BT  97  . P35  1917 

Palmer,  Francis  Bolles,  1834 

The  supernatural  revealed  by 
nature 

(o  I  (a  7 


Ta 


&£B  14  1913 


The  Supernatural 
Revealed  by  Nature 


v? 


FRANCIS  B.  PALMER,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D. 

EX-PRINCIPAL  OF  STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL, 
FREDONIA,  N.  Y. 

A uthor  of 

Science  of  Education  and  Thoughts  on  the 
Lord's  Prayer. 

^ L  i  b  y~.  o-T  n&l  t  <7a  Tb ow  , 

JO  <j 


BOSTON:  RICHARD  G.  BADGER 

TORONTO  :  THE  COPP  CLARK  CO.,  LIMITED 


6 


'(CAL  SIS# 


A 


Copyright,  1917,  by  Francis  B.  Palmer 


All  Rights  Reserved 


MADE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 
The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


INTRODUCTION 


Nature  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  matter  be¬ 
having  itself  under  conditions  of  time  and  space  in 
conformity  with  laws  of  motion,  attraction  and  re¬ 
pulsion,  light,  electricity,  and  so  forth.  In  this 
case  everything  above  the  material  would  be  super¬ 
natural. 

We  may  add  to  this  lower  form  of  nature  the 
forces  and  laws  of  vegetation  and  call  the  result 
nature,  and  all  forms  of  existence  above  this  we 
should  call  supernatural. 

We  may  add  to  our  second  conception  of  nature 
the  perception,  powers  and  internal  desires  of  an¬ 
imal  life  and  think  of  the  result  as  a  third  form  of 
our  concept  of  nature,  and  all  forms  of  existence 
above  this  would  be  supernatural  with  reference 
to  it. 

We  may  add  to  this  third  form  the  mental  powers 
peculiar  to  man  and  call  the  result  our  true  concep¬ 
tion  of  nature.  This  would  be  a  fourth  form  of 
nature  and  whatever  is  above  this,  if  anything, 
would  be  supernatural  with  reference  to  our  fourth 
form. 

Whether  there  exists  anything  above  our  fourth 
form  or  not  there  is  a  conception  of  such  an  addition 
in  the  minds  of  men,  and  there  has  been  in  all  na¬ 
tions  and  among  all  peoples.  This  is  the  supernat¬ 
ural  supposed  in  the  following  pages  and  the  ques¬ 
tion  is  whether  we  have  reason  to  believe  such  a 
form  of  the  supernatural  actually  exists  and  mani- 

3 


4 


Introduction 


fests  itself  or  not,  as  we  believe  in  the  several  addi¬ 
tions  to  lower  forms  which  manifest  themselves  suc¬ 
cessively  to  the  human  understanding. 

We  become  conscious  of  the  existence  of  an  ex¬ 
ternal  world  by  the  manifestations  of  matter  act¬ 
ing  upon  matter  in  particular  ways.  It  is  not  mat¬ 
ter  added  to  matter.  It  is  matter  affecting  matter 
in  a  manner  that  produces  consciousness  in  us.  We 
become  conscious  of  vegetable  life  through  growth, 
development  and  decay.  We  cannot  see  or  hear 
vegetable  life.  We  do  not  watch  the  life  of  a  rose 
and  lift  our  hands  in  token  of  regret  when  the 
flower  fades  away  and  decays.  The  life  does  not 
leave  the  material  twig  as  we  cut  it  from  its  stalk, 
for  we  may  set  it  in  the  ground  and  make  it  grow, 
and  we  do  not  think  we  have  imparted  life  again. 
But  at  some  definite  time  life  leaves  the  plant,  when 
we  cannot  tell.  We  only  know  approximately  by  the 
manifestations  of  matter.  And  because  of  the  mani¬ 
festations  seen  in  the  lower  nature  we  do  not  doubt 
there  is  a  higher  nature  in  plant  life. 

The  same  reason  applies  to  a  nature  higher  than 
plant  life,  and  we  infer  animal  life,  and  again,  it 
applies  to  man.  From  the  manifestations  in  our  four 
stages  of  nature,  as  set  forth,  including  man,  we  must 
infer,  and  the  human  mind  has  always  inferred,  a 
supernatural  with  reference  to  the  fourth  form  of  na¬ 
ture  as  it  grades  the  supernatural  in  the  lower  forms. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  set  forth  some  of  the 
reasons  drawn  from  this  comparison  for  a  belief  in  a 
supernatural  higher  than  our  fourth  form. 

The  first  chapter,  published  in  a  magazine  now 


Introduction 


5 


discontinued,  treats  of  causes  in  general  and  seeks  to 
prove  the  validity  of  purpose  as  a  final  cause  which 
appeals  to  reason  with  a  force  as  valid  as  mere  ma¬ 
terial  cause,  and  that  this  conception  of  our  fourth 
form  of  nature  leads  us  directly  to  the  conception  of 
a  supernatural  with  reference  to  itself  as  the  activi¬ 
ties  of  matter  in  a  growing  plant  lead  to  the  belief 
in  plant  life.  The  chapters  following  treat  of  spe¬ 
cific  forms  of  the  manifestations  of  the  supernatural 
higher  than  our  fourth  form  of  nature,  and  seek  to 
show  that  here  the  higher  is  as  manifest  in  the 
lower  as  plant  life  is  manifest  in  matter. 

The  chapter  on  Atonement  and  Forgiveness  was 
published  in  the  Bible  Student  and  Teacher  some 
time  ago,  and  that  on  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  has 
recently  been  published  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  and 
in  accordance  with  an  original  design  they  are  pub¬ 
lished  here  with  the  cordial  consent  of  the  editors 
of  those  magazines. 


I 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  I 

Page 

Causes  and  Final  Causes .  n 

Chapter  II 

The  Possibility  of  the  Supernatural  Birth  and 
Resurrection  of  Jesus  Not  Now  to  be  Dis¬ 
puted  .  32 

Chapter  III 

Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible. .  40 

Chapter  IV 

The  Reign  of  Law .  54 

Chapter  V 

Christian  Consciousness  .  64 

Chapter  VI 

Atonement  Universal,  Forgiveness  Limited...  77 


Chapter  VII 

Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to  Tests  89 

7 


8 


Contents 


Chapter  VIII 

Page 

The  Supernatural  Birth  of  Jesus  Not  Out  of 

Harmony  With  Nature .  103 

Chapter  IX 

Supernatural  Deeds  Natural  in  the  Life  of  Jesus  1 13 

Chapter  X 

The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus .  126 

Chapter  XI 

The  Resurrection  of  Jesus .  139 

Chapter  XII 


The  View  of  Nature  Which  Places  Jesus  at  the 

Center  of  the  Field  the  Most  Consistent  149 


The  Supernatural  Revealed 

by  Nature 


CHAPTER  I 
Causes  and  Final  Causes 

SCHOOL-BOY  found  the  word  God  boldly 
printed  in  his  first  reading-lesson.  He  had 
whiled  away  many  happy  hours  at  home  with  his 
alphabetic  blocks,  and  had  become  familiar  with  the 
letters  used  to  spell  the  names  of  his  playmates  and 
playthings;  and  when  his  teacher  pointed  to  this 
group  of  well-remembered  characters,  he  immediately 
pronounced  it  Dog.  Such  is  too  often  the  way  we 
children  of  philosophy  read  the  great  lessons  of  crea¬ 
tion  and  providence.  Read  direct,  as  the  Great  In¬ 
structor  writes  them  out  for  us,  they  reveal  the  infi¬ 
nite  purposes  of  love  and  care  of  an  Infinite  Cre¬ 
ator;  read  backward,  only  a  blind  obedience  to  a 
blind  fate. 

In  reading  nature  backward,  we  may  learn  valua¬ 
ble  lessons  of  a  certain  kind.  Sometimes  nature  is 
more  easily  read  thus,  and  through  inference  we  more 
clearly  learn  the  path  of  duty.  Having  traced  back 
sickness  to  over-indulgence  or  over-exertion,  we  are 
led  to  fix  some  practical  limits  to  exertion  and  indul- 


ii 


12  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


gence  beyond  which  it  is  not  safe  for  us  to  go.  The 
positive  command  of  parents  might  teach  the  same 
lesson  in  another  way.  By  the  one  process  we  trace 
nature  back  from  effect  to  cause,  by  the  other  we  read 
the  law  of  duty  directly.  Thus  we  are  taught  con¬ 
tinually  to  look  backward  and  forward  for  future 
direction. 

Two  model  teachers  in  these  two  lines  of  instruc¬ 
tion  are  Experience  and  Conscience.  But  these  are 
not  our  only  teachers.  Of  every  fact  against  which 
we  stumble,  and  event  with  which  we  are  involved, 
we  ask  two  questions What  is  its  cause?”  “What 
is  its  purpose?”  However  we  explain  the  origin  of 
these  questions,  they  are  equally  natural,  and  press 
with  equal  insistency  for  an  answer.  We  are  not 
always  equally  satisfied  with  the  answers  given.  In 
some  cases,  we  think  we  understand  the  cause  more 
clearly,  in  other  cases  the  purpose;  but  we  trust 
equally  in  either,  according  as  the  one  or  the  other 
is  the  more  clear.  The  mechanic  examines  a  theo¬ 
dolite.  He  can  soon  learn  that  turning  the  screws 
will  change  the  position  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
instrument,  but  he  would  never  guess  its  use.  The 
philosopher  examines  the  eye  of  an  eagle.  However 
skilled  he  may  be  in  the  knowledge  of  material  forces, 
he  can  never  explain  how  such  an  organ  was  made, 
but  the  purpose  he  quickly  perceives.  It  was  made 
to  look  upon  the  sun,  and  the  sun  was  made  as  it  is 
to  give  light  to  just  such  organs. 

But  in  whichever  direction  the  understanding  seeks 
satisfaction,  it  must  stop  with  limited  results.  Some¬ 
where  in  the  chain  of  cause  and  effect  we  must  stop ; 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


13 


somewhere  we  must  stop  in  tracing  the  never-ceas¬ 
ing  current  of  results.  In  one  case  we  can  trace  back 
a  result  to  a  cause  so  general  that  we  despair  of  be¬ 
ing  able  to  explain  by  human  reason  the  cause  of  so 
great  a  cause,  and  we  rest  there  comparatively  satis¬ 
fied.  For  example:  If  we  find  the  principle  of  grav¬ 
itation  sufficient  to  account  for  any  change  of  posi¬ 
tion  in  a  body,  we  consider  that  we  have  explained 
the  change.  In  another  case  we  can  trace  some  re¬ 
sult  of  such  beneficent  value,  and  so  clearly  worthy 
the  intelligence  displayed  in  planning  the  means  em¬ 
ployed,  that  we  think  our  conclusions  in  this  case  are 
practically  reliable  and  satisfactory,  if  not  ultimate 
and  completely  comprehensive. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  essay  to  set  forth  some  of 
the  reasons  why  we  should  trust  to  the  validity  of 
the  notion  of  design  with  as  much  confidence,  in 
seeking  for  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  existence,  as 
to  the  notion  of  physical  causation.  It  is  not  my  pur¬ 
pose  to  seek  the  limlits  of  the  argument  from  design, 
nor  to  consider  its  force  in  any  intricate  or  doubtful 
cases.  How  far  it  may  be  used  as  evidence  of  the 
attributes  of  any  controlling  Intelligence  in  nature, 
or  what  purposes  may  have  been  in  view  in  creation, 
are  questions  with  which  I  do  not  intend  here  to  deal. 
I  only  maintain  that  the  notion  of  design,  and  of  in¬ 
telligence  inferred  from  marks  of  design,  are  as  valid 
as  the  notion  of  natural  causation  and  the  deductions 
of  physical  science. 

I.  The  teleological  argument  antedates  the  Chris¬ 
tian  era,  and  has  been  more  elaborately  developed, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  argument  ever  stated  in  log- 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


ical  form;  and  it  would  be  just  to  demand  my  rea¬ 
sons  for  this  new  discussion  of  it.  I  reply,  therefore, 
that  an  aggressive  and  influential  section  of  scientific 
men  deny  its  validity.  According  to  these  men,  no 
explanation  of  any  phenomenon  is  worth  a  moment’s 
thought  except  that  of  material  causality.  La  Place 
constructed  a  “System  of  the  Universe,”  which  he 
declared  did  not  need  a  Deity.  Mr.  Darwin  says : 
“If  the  doctrine  .  .  .  that  very  many  structures 

have  been  created  for  beauty  in  the  eyes  of  man”  is 
true,  “it  would  be  fatal  to  my  theory.”1  In  profess¬ 
ing  to  believe  his  theory,  he  denies  his  ability  to  be¬ 
lieve  we  can  legitimately  trace  any  idea  of  purpose 
in  any  structure  or  form  of  animal  life,  to  anything 
outside  of  that  in  which  it  exists  or  was  developed. 
The  German  advocates  of  evolution  deny  teleology, 
and  originally  criticised  the  “Origin  of  Species”  be¬ 
cause  they  thought  it  taught  design.  But  Prof.  Hux¬ 
ley  hastens  to  charge  the  German  critics  with  misun¬ 
derstanding  their  English  neighbor,  and  expresses  his 
own  belief  that  “teleology,  as  commonly  understood, 
has  received  its  death-blow  at  Mr.  Darwin’s  hands.” 

It  is  not  necessary  to  quote  further  to  show  the 
hostility  of  these  “scientists”  to  the  argument  from 
design,  and  how  fatal  they  consider  its  acceptance 
would  be  to  their  notions  of  science.  They  do  not 
dogmatically  deny  the  existence  of  a  Designer  out¬ 
side  of  what  we  call  nature,  but  they  do  affirm  that 
we  cannot  know  anything  of  him  from  creation. 
Says  Prof.  Huxley:  “Till  we  know  all  the  conse- 


^rigin  of  Species,  p.  178.  (Am.  ed.) 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


15 


quences  to  which  all  possible  combinations  continued 
through  infinite  time  can  give  rise,  any  hypothesis  is 
better  than  the  miserable  presumption  .  .  .  that 

any  phenomenon  is  out  of  the  reach  of  natural  caus¬ 
ation.”2  But  no  one  understands  better  than  he  that 
we  can  never  hope  to  know  all  this ;  and  his  language 
is  a  plain  denial  of  the  validity  of  all  argument  ex¬ 
cept  that  of  cause  and  effect. 

Let  us  now  for  a  moment  imagine  ourselves  shut 
up  absolutely  to  such  a  belief  as  this,  and  look  around 
upon  our  situation.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  ev¬ 
idence  of  the  future  continuance  of  existing  physical 
conditions.  We  have  now,  remember,  given  up  ex¬ 
pecting  any  purpose  to  be  fulfilled ;  there  is  no  longer 
anything  to  be  aimled  at,  and  no  monstrosity  of 
physical  change  or  development  ought  at  any  time  to 
surprise  us.  This  the  old  Epicureans  consistently 
admitted.  We  know  not,  nor  is  there  anything  that 
can  teach  us,  even  to  a  degree  of  probability,  what 
new  combination  of  causes  the  morrow  is  likely  to 
reveal;  and  who  knows  how  soon  we  may  revert 
to  lower  animal  life,  or  develop  into  fiends?  Then, 
we  feel  an  utter  lack  of  sympathy  between  ourselves 
and  everything  around  us.  At  best  we  are  in  no  bet¬ 
ter  condition  than  pebbles  on  the  sea-shore,  grating 
harshly  against  each  other,  or  ground  to  powder  be¬ 
tween  larger  stones. 

Again,  there  is  no  basis  for  morality.  If  we  would 
seek  a  basis  in  the  principle  of  the  greatest  good  to 
the  greatest  number,  we  are  met  by  the  fact  that 


3Lay  Sermons,  p.  282. 


16  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


now  all  good  is  contingent  upon  blind  physics,  and 
as  future  physical  conditions  are  uncertain,  nothing 
can  assure  us  that  what  is  good  to-day  will  be  good 
to-miorrow,  or  the  day  following,  or  at  least,  all  so- 
called  good  and  evil  may  be  reversed  in  some  fu¬ 
ture  time,  not  many  ages  distant.  If  we  rely  on 
conscience,  it  no  longer  says,  aAn  omniscient  Creator 
planted  me  in  the  soul,”  but  it  refers  us  only  to  the 
history  of  the  past,  and  finds  no  sanctions  of  future 
retribution  or  delight.  If  we  ask  to  know  a  single 
step  beyond  this  life,  we  are  told  it  is  a  leap  into 
utter  darkness.  We  do  not  know  whether  we  shall 
be  conscious  or  unconscious;  or,  if  we  could  be  as¬ 
sured  of  consciousness,  whether  we  shall  be  virtuous 
or  wicked,  with  a  new  combination  of  circumstances 
— whether  we  shall  have  happiness  or  misery.  Mr. 
Darwin  says  there  need  be  no  fear  but  the  race  will 
continue  to  grow  in  intelligence,  and  improve  in 
what  he  calls  morals.  But  how  does  he  guess  at 
that?  What  fixes  for  him  the  acme  of  perfection  to 
which  purposeless  forces  will  elevate  the  race  ?  What 
is  meant  by  improvement  or  perfection,  when  every 
stone  fits  snugly  in  its  bed  of  mortar,  and  cannot  do 
otherwise?  Reasoning  on  the  future  is  all  out  of 
place.  We  can  only  know  the  past,  and  that  to  no 
purpose.  Purpose  does  not  rule. 

Objection  may  be  made  to  this  discussion  that  the 
extreme  denials  spoken  of  are  confined  to  a  small 
number  of  men,  and  have  only  a  theoretical  influ¬ 
ence  with  them.  It  may  be  said  that  materialists  do 
not  agree  among  themselves,  and  that  there  is  no 
fear  but  true  reason  will  finally  prevail,  and  false 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


17 


theories,  if  left  to  themselves,  will  perish  from  their 
own  want  of  consistency.  But  it  is  only  apparent 
that  theoretical  opposition  to  a  belief  in  the  super¬ 
natural  is  gaining  a  wide-spread  practical  influence 
over  the  popular  mind.  We  may  see  this  in  the  tone 
of  the  public  press,  and  in  the  guarded  forms  of  ex¬ 
pression  which  men  feel  themselves  everywhere  com¬ 
pelled  to  make,  if  they  would  avoid  being  called 
superstitious.  The  claims  of  Christianity  to  the  di¬ 
vine  sanctions  of  prophetic  vision,  miraculous  power, 
and  providential  control,  which  were  once  the  un¬ 
deniable  defence  of  the  truth,  have  become  the  most 
difficult  obstacles  to  its  acceptance,  In  the  minds  of 
many  just  beginning  to  reason  on  the  profound  prin¬ 
ciples  of  existence. 

Again,  we  cannot  rely  on  the  effectiveness  of  old 
arguments  to  meet  new  forms  of  error.  Skepticism 
is  continually  changing  its  front.  No  pains  are  tak¬ 
en  by  evolutionists  to  deny  the  statement  that  marks 
of  design  in  nature  would  argue  an  intelligent  cause. 
It  is  denied  that  there  are  marks  of  design.  “Far 
from  imagining  that  cats  exist  in  order  to  catch 
mice  well,”  says  Prof.  Huxley,  “Darwinianism  sup¬ 
poses  that  cats  exist  because  they  catch  mice  well.”3 
A  cat  not  only  would  not  have  been  a  cat,  it  would 
not  have  been  anything,  it  would  have  gone  under  in 
the  struggle  for  existence,  if  it  had  not  caught  mice 
well. 

II.  As  materialists  take  the  defensive  in  this  argu¬ 
ment,  and  content  themselves  with  simple  denials,  it 


*Lay  Sermons,  p.  303. 


1 8  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


is  impossible  to  tell  what  or  how  much  they  will  ad¬ 
mit.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  go  back  to  first 
principles,  and  inquire  whether  the  human  mind  is 
justified  in  inferring  design  at  all  or  not — whether 
or  not  we  can  find  any  valid  testimony  in  nature, 
except  that  which  merely  affirms  physical  force.  This 
is  a  simple  question,  and  requires  no  elaborate  argu¬ 
ment.  It  is  primitive,  and  the  chain  of  evidence  has 
but  one  link.  Does  this  make  real  connections  that 
we  may  trust  it  to  anchor  us  to  the  unknown,  or  is  it 
an  illusion? 

I  suppose  that  no  one  would  think  me  so  foolish 
as  to  write  this  article  with  no  design,  no  purpose ; 
or,  rather,  I  suppose  that  I  could  not  write  it  unless 
I  had  some  purpose  as  a  motive  for  writing,  as  well 
as  some  ability  to  express  my  thoughts.  In  writing 
this  paragraph  I  am  as  conscious  that  an  end  in  view 
is  necessary  to  secure  my  attempting  to  write,  as 
that  an  ability  to  use  words  that  will  express  my 
thoughts  is  essential  to  the  act  itself.  There  may  be 
a  prospect  of  making  money,  of  gaining  a  reputation, 
or  of  influencing  men  to  think  as  I  desire  to  have 
them  think.  Whatever  it  is  that  influences  me  to 
write  I  call  a  purpose.  As  this  purpose  is  that  which 
causes  me  to  write,  it  is  also  a  cause. 

I  perceive  then  two  kinds  of  causes.  The  purpose 
or  reason  I  have  for  writing  is  the  cause  of  the  at¬ 
tempt  to  write  and  so  the  cause  of  the  writing,  and 
the  writing  is  the  instrument  or  cause  by  means  of 
which  the  end  is  secured.  I  am  conscious  of  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  end  in  view  before  it  has  anything 
more  than  an  ideal  existence,  and  it  may  in  fact  never 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


19 


be  more  than  ideal.  As  a  power  with  me  it  is  in¬ 
dependent  of  the  effort  I  put  forth ;  for  in  its  in¬ 
fluence  it  antedates  the  effort.  But  my  effort,  or  my 
writing,  is  not  independent  of  this  motive,  and  can¬ 
not  be;  therefore,  while  the  writing  will  be  the  effi¬ 
cient  cause  of  the  accomplishment  of  my  purpose,  if 
I  gain  my  object,  the  purpose  is  in  a  deeper  sense  the 
cause  of  its  efficient  cause.  Aristotle  recognizes  this 
principle,  and  says  that  “the  thing  for  which”  is  the 
highest  of  all  causes.  I  am,  indeed,  more  certain  of 
the  causal  power  of  this  purpose  in  my  mind  than  I 
should  be  of  a  causal  connection  between  the  writ¬ 
ing  and  any  one  of  the  results  spoken  of  above,  if 
it  should  follow.  A  poor  blind  man  brings  me  some 
verses.  I  look  upon  his  tattered  garments  and  sad 
countenance,  and,  as  I  take  his  worthless  rhymes,  I 
give  him  some  money.  He  may  flatter  himself  that 
his  hobbling  measures  secured  my  money,  but  he  is 
deceived.  It  is  his  sad  condition.  So  I  may  not 
be  sure  of  causation  from  sequence;  but  I  am  sure 
that  ambition,  pride,  and  the  love  of  mankind  are 
real  powers  with  me. 

I  am  now  led  to  inquire  if  this  final  cause  dif¬ 
fers  in  its  action  from  physical  causes  in  such  a  way 
that  I  cannot  explain  one  class  by  the  other.  I  see 
a  ball  move  in  space  and  strike  against  a  similar  ball 
that  is  motionless.  The  first  ball  stops  at  the  point 
of  contact,  and  the  second  moves.  We  say  that  the 
motion  of  the  first  ball  was  the  cause  of  the  motion 
of  the  second.  I  observe  here  three  relations  between 
the  cause  and  its  effect.  First,  the  cause  existed  be¬ 
fore  the  effect;  secondly,  the  cause  ceased  as  the  ef- 


20 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


feet  was  produced;  and  thirdly,  the  cause  and  the 
effect  were  exactly  equal.  If  now  I  see  several 
balls  on  a  table,  and  a  person  strikes  one  which 
strikes  a  second,  and  then  a  third,  and  that  by  this 
means  a  game  is  won  and  profit  secured,  what  do  I 
say  is  the  cause  of  the  player’s  action?  The  ability 
to  play  and  the  desire  of  profit  were  only  permanent 
states  of  his  being,  and  could  not  have  produced  ac¬ 
tion.  Past  experience  can  only  give  the  mind  sus¬ 
ceptibility.  That  which  excited  the  player  to  act, 
was  the  profit  conceived  of  as  contingent  on  his  act. 
The  potential  future  is  that  which  excites  the  mind 
to  determination.  I  know  that  my  acts  would  be 
very  different  in  their  nature,  they  would  not  be 
voluntary,  if  I  were  not  influenced  by  some  future 
potential  and  contingent  object.  I  am  conscious  of 
the  force  of  final  causes  with  me,  and  I  know  that 
they  alone  give  character  to  my  conduct.  I  must 
say,  then,  that  the  profit  was  the  Anal  cause  of  the 
game  I  have  spoken  of.  But  I  find  here  first,  that 
the  final  cause  did  not  exist  in  reality  until  after  the 
effect;  secondly,  it  was  brought  into  being  through 
its  effect;  and,  thirdly,  I  cannot  compare  the  force 
of  the  cause  and  its  effect.  I  see  that  the  same  play¬ 
er  will  play  the  same  game  for  different  amounts  of 
profit,  and  I  notice  that  often  the  more  one  plays 
the  less  is  required  to  induce  him  to  play.  It  is  thus 
that  ambition,  covetousness,  love  of  humanity,  piety, 
grow  in  power  with  us  as  they  increase  in  effect.  If 
it  be  asked  how  that  which  does  not  exist,  and  which 
indeed  may  never  exist — for  the  reckless  youth  may 
lose  his  game — can  be  the  cause  of  that  which  is,  the 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


21 


only  reply  we  can  make  is  that  the  mind  is  so  con¬ 
stituted  as  to  be  thus  moved.  But  as  puzzling  a 
question  arises  with  physical  causation.  The  cause 
and  its  effect  do  not  exist  at  the  same  time. 

This  does  not  lead  me  to  suppose  that  a  potential 
good  which  does  not  exist  in  reality,  creates  a  physi¬ 
cal  force  by  means  of  which  it  brings  itself  into  ex¬ 
istence.  My  mind  itself,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  can¬ 
not  add  a  single  grain  to  the  physical  forces  of  the 
universe.  But  a  final  cause  induces  my  mind  to>  put 
forth  a  volition  which  determines  the  manner  in 
which  existing  physical  forces  shall  act.  The  direc¬ 
tion  of  forces  is  changed,  and  it  is  in  this  change  by 
which  forces  are  adapted  to  each  other  that  we  find 
the  evidences  of  design.  Forces  act  in  a  manner  I 
cannot  understand  except  by  supposing  they  are  con¬ 
trolled  by  an  intelligent  purpose.  I  do  not  know 
how  others  explain  my  acts,  but  I  myself  can  trace 
them  back  through  various  links  of  causation  to  my 
voluntary  mind  where  I  see  the  forces  are  no  more 
able  to  produce  action  until  a  purpose  comes  into 
view,  than  a  lump  of  anthracite  is  able  to  move  a 
railway  train  before  a  fire  is  kindled.  I  am  not  now 
seeking  to  explain  the  origin  of  physical  force.  I  am 
seeking  to  account  for  the  mode  of  its  action.  In 
myself  I  can  trace  this  to  the  influence  of  final 
causes.  Why  not  in  others  and  in  nature? 

I  find,  then,  the  three  essential  and  important  dif¬ 
ferences  I  have  named  in  the  action  of  the  two  classes 
of  causes.  Since  the  physical  cause  must  exist  en¬ 
tirely  before  its  effect,  whatever  phenomenon  can¬ 
not  be  accounted  for  by  facts  which  have  preceded  it, 


22  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


cannot  be  accounted  for  at  all  on  the  principle  of 
physical  causation.  But  since  the  final  cause  can 
only  exist  as  an  accomplished  fact  after  it  has  ex¬ 
erted  its  influence,  intelligent  action  can  only  be  ex¬ 
plained  as  intelligent  by  that  which  follows  it.  Since 
the  physical  cause  ceases  as  its  effect  is  produced 
there  is  no  ground  for  a  choice  of  results,  if  choice 
were  antecedently  possible,  and  so  no  possibility^  of 
a  sense  of  responsibilit}^  and  there  could  be  no  sanc¬ 
tions  for  responsibility,  the  cause  not  existing  now, 
could  mere  matter  be  responsible.  But  the  intelli¬ 
gent  mind,  being  conscious  of  its  power  to  choose 
before  it  acts  whether  its  purpose  shall  exist  or  not, 
and  anticipating  the  enjoyment  of  its  purpose,  holds 
itself  responsible  for  its  choice,  and  as  it  expects  a  co¬ 
existence  with  its  purpose  as  an  accomplished  fact, 
it  expects  to  be  held  responsible  by  others.  And 
since  the  physical  cause  and  effect  are  equal  there  is 
a  basis  for  exact  calculation  in  physical  science;  but 
a  final  cause  is  without  measure.  Back  of  these  sim¬ 
ple  principles  we  cannot  go.  It  is  possible  to  suppose 
a  higher  principle  of  causation  into  which  both 
classes  of  causes  may  be  resolved,  but  one  cannot 
be  explained  by  the  other.  If  there  is  a  common 
basis  it  lies  back  of  both,  and  is  apparently  beyond 
the  reach  of  our  reason.  We  can  only  say  matter  is 
mobile,  existing  force  can  move  it;  the  mind  is  vol¬ 
untary,  the  force  of  potential  good  or  evil  can  cause 
volition. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  say  anything  about 
the  essence  or  nature  of  causality;  the  phenomena 
are  all  that  concern  this  argument,  and  whether  it  is 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


23 


necessary  to  conceive  of  a  force  as  passing  from  cause 
to  effect  or  not,  the  existence  of  causal  phenomena 
remain  the  same 

Now  I  ask  myself  if  I  can  impart  to  the  products 
of  my  toil  any  character  by  which  others  ought  to 
read  my  design.  It  seems  to  me  not  only  possible 
but  absolutely  necessary  if  there  are  any  beings  like 
myself  that  they  should  say  at  least  that  I  must  have 
some  purpose.  And  not  only  so,  but  I  cannot,  even 
if  I  try,  wholly  prevent  others  from  knowing  some¬ 
thing  of  what  my  design  is.  The  most  adroit  crim¬ 
inal  can  scarcely  cover  up  all  his  tracks  so  perfectly 
that  the  detective  can  discover  nothing  of  his  in¬ 
tentions. 

I  must  for  myself,  then,  believe  in  the  existence  of 
final  causes  which  act  in  consequence  of  their  rela¬ 
tion  to  my  mind;  I  must  believe  that  these  differ 
in  their  action  from  physical  causes;  and  I  must  be¬ 
lieve  that  every  result  of  my  rational  activity  con¬ 
stitutes  a  mark  of  design  to  which  I  at  least  can  give 
but  one  interpretation. 

III.  But  still  I  am  left  to  wonder  if  anything  in 
nature,  besides  myself,  is  influenced  by  purposes.  All 
intelligent  acts  must  have  design,  but  do  any  acts, 
besides  my  own,  reveal  intelligence?  I  am  led,  then, 
in  the  next  place  to  ask  myself  if  I  can  legitimately 
infer  design  from  things  with  the  origin  of  which  I 
have  had  nothing  to  do. 

As  I  turn  from  thoughts  of  myself,  I  observe  an 
object  on  my  table.  I  take  it  and  look  at  it.  On 
one  edge  I  read, 


24 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


The  Descent  of  Man. 

Darwin. 

I. 

I  turn  it  over;  it  opens,  I  find  it  is  a  book,  and 
it  expresses  thoughts  that  I  am  able  more  or  less 
clearly  to  understand.  They  appeal  to  my  rea¬ 
son,  sentiment,  and  humanity,  just  as  I  would 
seek  to  appeal  to  others  if  I  were  writing  a 
book.  I  should  strive  to  reveal  my  own  thoughts.  I 
Wonder  if  this  book  does  not  give  the  ideas  of  some 
man  concerning  his  origin,  and  if  the  author  s  name 
is  not  Darwin,  and  if  he  does  not  purpose  to  write  a 
second  volume.  And  I  wonder  if  he  has  not  some 
other  purpose  in  view  than  simlply  to  write.  I  see 
great  pains  have  been  taken  in  making  it  attractive, 
and  in  bringing  it  within  the  reach  of  intelligent  men, 
and  this  confirms  my  last  supposition.  I  do  not 
know  what  the  motives  of  this  Darwin  were,  but 
the  evidence  to  me  is  strong  that  he  had  some  pur¬ 
pose  beyond  that  of  simply  writing.  Perhaps  he 
had  a  variety  of  purposes.  These  suppositions  seem 
very  natural  to  me,  judging  from  the  constitution 
of  my  own  mind. 

Now  I  stop  and  wonder  if  I  have  any  right  to 
reason  from  the  action  of  rational  causes  on  my  mind 
to  the  action  of  causes  on  anything  else.  I  cannot 
conceive  of  a  rational  act  without  a  purpose;  but 
what  if  there  are  no  rational  acts  besides  my  own.  I 
confess  I  have  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  intelli- 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


25 


gence  in  any  Darwin,  or  anything  else  outside  of  my 
own  consciousness,  save  the  evidence  of  phenomena. 
I  wonder  if  I  should  be  justified  in  supposing  the 
author  of  this  book  w!as  influenced  by  any  motive 
or  purpose,  as  I  am.  I  can  conceive  that  a  great 
deal  of  machine  work  may  have  been  employed  in 
preparing  the  paper,  forming  the  letters,  binding  and 
otherwise.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  behind  all  this 
there  must  have  been  some  intelligence.  After  the 
most  candid  reflection  I  am  convinced  that  some  of 
my  suppositions  at  least  are  reasonable.  The  evidence 
is  so  strong  that  I  do  not  believe  I  can  be  mistaken 
when  I  affirm  that  the  book  had  an  intelligent 
author. 

This  satisfies  me  that  it  is  just  for  me  to  infer  de¬ 
sign  in  other  works  than  my  own.  As  I  look  around 
I  see  abundant  evidence  everywhere  that  men  never 
doubt  their  ability  to  know  what  motives  will  per¬ 
suade  others  to  do  or  undertake  certain  things.  All 
trade  is  possible  only  on  this  supposition.  The  bank¬ 
er  will  loan  money  on  promises  to  pay,  the  traveller’s 
goal  is  before  him,  the  workman  does  not  expect  his 
pay  till  his  work  is  done,  yet  without  hope  of  a  re¬ 
ward  not  one  of  these  would  put  forth  an  effort. 

So  evident  is  this  principle  that  I  fear  I  may  be 
blamed  for  having  made  it  so  important.  But  this  is 
the  principle  evolutionists  have  confused.  I  have 
already  referred  to  Mr.  Darwin’s  supposed  ambi¬ 
guity  in  the  “Origin  of  Species.”  He  says  in  pal¬ 
liation:  “I  was  not  able  to  annul  the  influence  of 
my  former  belief,  then  widely  prevalent,  that  each 


26  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


species  had  been  purposely  created.”4  Now,  he  im¬ 
plies,  and  in  various  ways  affirms,  it  is  all  “annulled.” 
But  he  is  none  the  less  “ambiguous”  in  his  “Descent 
of  Man.”  Language  and  nature  alike  protest.  On 
almost  every  page  we  find  such  expressions  as  “pur¬ 
pose,”  “design,”  “in  order  to,”  “in  order  that,”  not 
teaching  “teleology  as  commonly  understood,”  but  in 
an  obscure  and  misleading  sense.  It  seemed  neces¬ 
sary,  then,  to  give  as  careful  an  analysis  of  causation 
as  possible  and  establish  the  distinction  between  final 
and  physical  causes  on  a  firm  basis. 

IV.  We  have  seen  now  that  we  are  conscious  of 
being  influenced  ourselves  by  final  causes,  and  that 
these  differ  essentially  from  physical  causes,  and  that 
we  infer  the  action  of  the  same  class  of  causes  from 
some  of  the  phenomena  around  us.  Next  let  us  com¬ 
pare  the  validity  of  the  notion  of  design  with  the  va¬ 
lidity  of  the  notion  of  cause  and  effect,  as  primitive 
notions. 

In  the  first  place  the  one  cannot  be  said  to  rest  on 
a  sounder  basis  in  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind 
than  the  other.  Perhaps  we  cannot  be  entirelv  cer¬ 
tain  of  the  origin  of  either,  but  in  all  probability  it 
is  the  same  for  both.  If  the  one  originates  in  observ¬ 
ing  the  effect  of  the  conscious  exercise  of  the  will,  the 
other  originates  in  the  consciousness  of  the  effect  of 
motives  on  the  will.  If  the  one  is  an  innate  capacity 
to  infer  cause  from  observing  sequence,  the  other  is 
an  innate  capacity  to  infer  design  from  fitting  coin¬ 
cidence,  or  some  other  relation.  That  the  idea  cor- 


4The  Descent  of  Man,  Vol.  I,  p.  147. 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


27 


responds  to  the  reality  is  just  as  certain  in  one  case 
as  in  the  other  on  either  supposition.  On  the  hypo¬ 
thesis  of  innate  capacity  we  cannot  see  the  nexus  in 
either  case,  and  can  only  say  we  are  constituted  to  be¬ 
lieve  in  these  truths.  On  the  hypothesis  of  conscious 
volition,  we  must  affirm  that  if  we  are  conscious  of 
the  exercise  of  any  one  power  more  clearly  than 
another,  that  power  is  the  force  of  motive.  On  either 
hypothesis,  therefore,  the  notions  must  be  considered 
as  equally  legitimate. 

In  the  second  place  there  is  no  more  suspicion  cast 
upon  the  validity  of  one  of  these  notions  as  primary 
truths  than  the  other  by  experience.  It  may  be 
doubted,  indeed,  if  it  is  possible  to  shake  the  confi¬ 
dence  of  any  man  in  the  least  degree  in  either.  We 
cannot  understand  all  the  applications  of  truth  nor 
define  it  with  absolute  exactness,  but  the  truth  itself 
we  believe  to  be  universal  We  are  often  unable  to 
explain  the  action  of  the  best  known  causes  when 
they  involve  the  infinite,  the  infinitesimal,  or  some 
other  element  imperfectly  understood.  We  must 
even  be  on  our  guard  in  the  application  of  mathe¬ 
matical  principles,  or  we  shall  be  led  into  absurdity. 
In  no  department  of  thinking  can  the  finite  mind 
play  hide  and  seek  with  the  infinitely  great,  or  the 
infinitely  small  with  impunity.  The  joke  will  some¬ 
times  come  back  on  ourselves.  But  notwithstanding 
the  absurdities  into  which  we  are  sometimes  led  by 
what  we  think  for  the  time  being  is  necessary  reason¬ 
ing,  we  cannot  disbelieve  the  primary  truths  of  our 
being.  We  salt  our  logic  with  common  sense.  Achil¬ 
les  will  catch  the  tortoise — there  is  no  doubt  of  that. 


28  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


But  if  you  can  induce  me  to  confine  my  arithmetic  to 
calculating  the  time  it  will  take  for  him  to  travel  the 
distance  between  them  at  each  successive  interval,  I 
must  confess  I  cannot  justify  my  belief  by  mathe¬ 
matics.  The  end  of  all  the  times  I  can  thus  obtain, 
though  I  go  on  to  infinity,  will  not  find  me  at  the 
point  of  capture.  It  takes  some  time  to  travel  each 
distance  given,  and  when  this  is  travelled  there  will 
still  be  a  new  distance  for  the  persevering  Achilles  to 
make.  But  puzzling  as  the  question  is,  looked  at 
from  this  point  of  view,  no  one  yet  ever  doubted  but 
Achilles  would  win  in  the  chase.  The  most  absurd 
suppositions  have  been  made  by  men  to  explain  the 
difficulty  which  seems  so  logical,  but  I  never  knew  a 
man  to  hesitate  an  instant  to  affirm  that  if  Achilles 
gained  ground  he  would  catch  up  in  time.  I  have 
seen  a  mathematical  professor  of  uncommon  keen¬ 
ness  so  mixed  in  his  judgment  that  he  seriously  as¬ 
serted  and  tried  to  maintain  that  Achilles  could  catch 
the  tortoise  only  by  passing  it  a  little  way  and  wait¬ 
ing  for  his  prey  to  come  up.  When  finally  driven 
from  this  absurdity,  the  professor  declared  that 
Achilles’s  motion  would  not  be  mathematically  con¬ 
stant,  and  that  he  could  catch  the  tortoise  only  as 
he  gave  a  sort  of  spring  when  he  drew  very  near, 
and  landed  by  the  tortoise’s  side.  Absurd  as  these 
explanations  are,  he  maintained  them  stoutly  and  se¬ 
riously  in  the  heat  of  discussion,  but  his  faith  did  not 
waver  an  instant  in  the  fact  that  in  some  way  or  oth¬ 
er  the  swift-footed  courser  would  come  up  with  his 
moping  quarry.  So  it  is  in  all  applications  of  the 
principles  of  causation  and  motive.  Our  understand- 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


29 


ing  of  them  is  with  finite  minds.  When  we  attempt 
to  understand  the  infinite  we  may  be  puzzled,  but 
we  never  falter  in  our  application  of  these  principles 
to  things  with  which  we  are  familiar.  Both  prin¬ 
ciples  are  established  as  valid  principles  of  judgment 
beyond  dispute  or  cavil. 

In  the  third  place,  I  do  not  see  that  any  suspicion 
ought  to  rest  on  the  validity  of  the  evidence  for  de¬ 
sign  as  evidence,  arising  from  the  fact  that  we  can¬ 
not  tell  in  given  cases  what  the  determining  purpose 
may  have  been.  We  are  not  now  seeking  to  know 
what  final  causes  have  exerted  their  influence ;  we 
desire  to  know  if  it  is  of  any  use  to  look  for  final 
causes.  If  we  find  there  are  final  causes  we  will  then 
use  our  reason  the  best  we  can  to  determine  what 
these  are,  as  in  the  case  of  other  truth. 

But  the  teleologist  is  no  worse  off  even  in  this  re¬ 
spect  than  the  “scientist.”  Physical  causes  are  nu¬ 
merous  and  uncertain.  So  great  is  the  liability  to 
mistake  in  the  analysis  of  physical  causation,  that 
it  is  confessed  there  is  not  a  single  principle  of 
physical  science  that  is  established  beyond  question. 
Every  principle  holds  itself  open  to  criticism  or  refu¬ 
tation.  Some  that  have  the  most  general  applica¬ 
tion  fail  unaccountably  under  certain  circumstances, 
and  if  made  to  conform  exactly  to  nature,  so  as  to 
explain  all  the  phenomena  to  which  they  should  ap¬ 
ply,  might  need  to  be  stated  in  an  entirely  different 
way.  It  is  wonderful  what  evidence  Sir  Isaac  New¬ 
ton  could  adduce  to  prove  the  truth  of  his  theory 
of  light.  He  could  explain  almost  every  known 
phenomenon.  But  now  the  prevalent  theory  of  light 


30  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


is  wholly  unlike  his.  The  law  of  resultant  motion 
in  mechanics  cannot  be  applied  to  forces  and  motions 
of  a  minute  character.  A  ripple  made  on  the  sur¬ 
face  of  a  pond  goes  on  in  its  own  direction  to  the 
shore  and  there  is  no  interference  from  other  rip¬ 
ples  crossing  it,  as  we  might  expect  judging  from  the 
law  of  resultant  motion.  The  light  of  all  the  stars 
comes  to  the  eye  direct,  and  the  different  rays  are 
not  defeated  in  their  mission  by  other  rays  which 
are  continually  met,  going  on  errands  in  different 
directions.  The  general  principle  does  not  cover 
the  whole  case,  and  we  can  only  keep  ourselves  from 
practical  error  by  the  counter  statement  that  in  very 
minute  movements  of  very  small  particles  of  matter 
twt>  impulses  of  motion  will  not  unite  or  affect  each 
other  unless  in  the  same  or  the  opposite  direction. 
But  no  provision  is  made  in  the  general  statement 
for  this  limitation,  and  as  there  is  provision  in  na¬ 
ture  for  the  fact,  we  know  not  how  great  a  change 
an  exact  statement  might  require.  The  most  univer¬ 
sal  of  physical  laws,  the  law  of  gravitation,  presents 
a  still  worse  case.  It  not  only  fails  when  we  reduce 
the  distance  between  particles  of  matter  within  cer¬ 
tain  limits,  but  the  reverse  is  said  to  be  true.  The 
law  itself  makes  no  provision  for  this  change  from 
attraction  to  repulsion,  but  nature  does ;  who  knows, 
therefore,  that  Newton’s  law  may  not  at  some  time 
be  laid  away  with  the  theories  of  the  alchemist.  The 
fact  illustrated  by  these  cases,  that  our  knowledge  is 
limited,  is  universal.  But  it  is  practically  reliable  in 
this  life,  and  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  as  far  as  it 
is  applicable  it  will  practically  stand  the  judgment 


Causes  and  Final  Causes 


31 


of  the  world  to  come. 

Having  found  the  validity  of  teleology  subject  to 
no  more  doubts  on  theoretical  grounds  than  physical 
science,  either  in  respect  to  its  basis  in  the  reason  or 
in  respect  to  its  application  to  nature,  I  do  not  see 
where  Prof.  Huxley  has  discovered  such  an  over¬ 
whelming  presumption  against  teleological  argu¬ 
ments  in  respect  to  creation,  that  he  can  say  any 
hypothesis  is  better  than  to  accept  such  testimony, 
even  to  the  extent  of  affirming  that  anything  in 
nature  has  a  purpose.  I  do  not,  indeed,  see  where 
the  least  antecedent  presumption  can  be  found 
against  this  kind  of  argument  in  respect  to  any  phe¬ 
nomena  that  come  within  the  reach  of  our  intelli¬ 
gence.  As  Agassiz  has  well  said,  “The  most  ad¬ 
vanced  Darwinians  seem  reluctant  to  acknowledge 
the  intervention  of  any  intellectual  power  in  the 
diversity  which  obtains  in  nature,  under  the  plea  that 
such  admission  implies  creative  acts  for  every  spe¬ 
cies.  What  of  it,  if  it  were  true?”  Do  they  shrink 
from  results? 


CHAPTER  II 


The  Possibility  of  the  Supernatural  Birth 
and  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Not  Now 
to  be  Disputed 

FOLLOWING  in  the  wake  of  the  higher  criti¬ 
cism  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  there  is  a  strenu¬ 
ous  and  persistent  effort  on  the  part  of  many  serious 
persons  to  reconcile  their  Christian  consciousness 
with  a  rejection  of  the  belief  in  the  supernatural, 
and  especially  the  supernatural  birth  and  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  Christ.  They  recognize  in  experience  the 
power  and  reality  of  the  Christian  life,  but  doubt 
or  hesitate  to  accept  the  account  of  its  efficient  cause. 
They  have  no  trouble  in  justifying  their  estimate  of 
the  reliability  and  value  of  their  experience  from 
their  belief  in  the  purity  and  nobility  of  Christian 
doctrine,  the  power  of  Christianity  as  a  civilizing 
agency  in  the  world,  and  above  all  the  model  life 
of  the  Founder  of  Christianity.  They  believe  the 
world  could  not  afford  to  lose  the  influence  of 
Christ’s  life  and  teaching,  and  for  themselves  would, 
perhaps,  rather  lose  life  itself  than  drop  out  of  it 
their  Christian  experience;  for  life  is  short  at  best, 
and  long  or  short,  is  scarcely  worth  living  without 
the  hope  and  comfort  that  come  through  this  ex¬ 
perience.  But  in  the  light  of  modern  criticism  they 
stumble  at  the  idea  of  the  supernatural,  and  hold 
it  an  open  question  whether  we  could  not  continue 

32 


Supernatural  Birth  and  Resurrection  of  Jesus  33 


to  maintain  the  reality  of  Christian  consciousness  in 
the  world,  and  yet  give  up  the  belief  in  the  super¬ 
natural  birth  and  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  They 
are  casting  about  to  see  how  the  world  may  con¬ 
tinue  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  a  Christian  life  if  the 
tree  itself  were  cut  down  at  the  root. 

A  striking  example  of  the  reasoning  suggested  by 
such  doubts  has  been  quoted  by  the  public  press  from 
a  widely  read  and  influential  religious  journal  as 
follows:  “The  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  does  not 
depend  on  physiological  theories  of  his  birth.  It  is 
attested  by  his  life  and  work  and  teaching.”  “If  it 
could  be  scientifically  proved  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  supernaturally  born  and  not  supernaturally  rais¬ 
ed  from  the  dead,  that  would  afford  no  reason  for 
rejecting  Christianity.”  This  is  not  a  denial  of  the 
supernatural  birth  and  resurrection,  but  it  puts  one 
on  his  guard  against  accepting  the  doctrine,  and 
whatever  the  prevailing  belief  of  the  writer  quoted 
it  is  a  short  step  for  the  reader  to  change  “if”  to  “we 
grant,”  and  for  another  to  say,  “Since  it  is  gen¬ 
erally  accepted.”  Thus  the  only  twTo  events  since 
the  creation  of  the  world  which  have  universal  sig¬ 
nificance  and  value  would  lose  all  their  value  because 
that  which  is  required  to  give  them  significance  has 
been  scientifically  proved  to  be  false. 

But  some  one  will  say  that  the  cross  remains. 
Belief  in  that  has  not  been  disturbed.  It  requires 
nothing  supernatural  to  explain  the  death  of  Christ. 
Not  only  is  death  the  common  lot  of  humanity,  but 
it  is  the  common  law  for  the  good  to  sacrifice  them¬ 
selves  for  the  bad.  The  poet  reads  it  in  the  con- 


34 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


stantly  recurring  deaths  of  the  noble  and  the  great 
like  Socrates,  Savonarola  and  Lincoln,  and  in  the 
pangs  of  the  pious  over  their  wayward  children  and 

sings : 

“Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold,  wrong  forever  on  the 
throne; 

But  that  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and  behind  the 
dim  unknown 

Standeth  God  within  the  shadow  keeping  watch 
above  his  own.” 

But  what  is  there  left  on  the  cross  if  the  super¬ 
natural  be  taken  away?  Nothing  but  one  more 
illustrative  example  of  the  common  law  of  sacrifice, 
which  has  been  illustrated  again  and  again  in  all 
ages  of  the  world’s  history.  If  there  was  nothing 
supernatural  in  the  person  on  the  cross  what  assui- 
ance  was  assumed  in  the  words  to  the  dying  thief. 
Were  they  not  profounder  mockery  than  any  used 
by  priest,  by  soldier,  or  by  jeering  crowd  against  the 
crucified  himself? 

When  we  are  told  “The  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ 
does  not  depend  on  physiological  theories  of  his 
birth,”  it  might  be  easily  answered,  “Neither  did  the 
birth  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  depend  on  any 
physiological  theories  of  the  laws  of  birth  and 
death.”  But  the  suspicion  suggested  here  that  there 
may  be  some  scientific  proof  that  Jesus  was  not  of 
supernatural  birth,  or  that  he  did  not  rise  from  ^the 
dead,  is  absolutely  without  warrant.  The  “if”  in 
the  case  is  gratuitously  superfluous  assumption.  Rea- 


Supernatural  Birth  and  Resurrection  of  Jesus  35 


sons  may  be  brought  forward  to  raise  grave  doubts 
and  serious  questions,  and  the  reasons  against  be¬ 
lieving  in  these  supernatural  events  as  facts  may  seem 
to  some  stronger  than  those  in  favor  of  believnig,  but 
of  scientific  proof  there  is  not  a  particle.  Proof, 
whether  scientific  or  otherwise,  must  recognize  the 
laws  of  logic.  In  the  case  supposed  science  must 
undertake  to  prove  a  negative  in  each  of  two  cases, 
which  the  laws  of  logic  do  no  allow  to  be  done  in 
any  way  now  proposed  or  apparently  possible.  We 
may  prove  a  contradictory  and  so  establish  a  nega¬ 
tive  with  logical  certainty.  But  even  then,  when 
dealing  with  the  infinite,  as  in  the  case  of  eternity 
in  time  or  infinity  of  space,  the  reason  may  be  left 
in  mid  air  between  two  contradictories.  Thus  we 
cannot  think  of  absolute  time  and  space  either  as 
limited  or  as  unlimited.  But  testimony  to  a  nega¬ 
tive  is  not  proof.  A  hundred  men  in  a  crowd  may 
testify  that  they  did  not  see  a  certain  theft  commit¬ 
ted,  but  it  would  weigh  nothing  against  the  reliable 
testimony  of  one  man  who  did  see  it.  If  on  the 
other  hand  the  hundred  men  should  testify  that  they 
did  see  the  theft  committed  by  a  certain  man  and  it 
could  be  positively  proved  that  the  person  charged 
with  theft  was  in  a  place  a  mile  away  when  the 
crime  was  committed,  the  charge  must  fail,  or  the 
negative  would  be  satisfactorily  proved.  The  proof 
of  the  alibi  is  satisfactory  proof  of  the  con¬ 
tradictory.  A  man  cannot  be  in  London  and 
at  the  same  time  commit  a  theft  in  New  York. 
But  the  mere  failure  to  see  a  thing  that  has  hap¬ 
pened  does  not  prove  that  it  did  not  happen.  A 


36  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


very  impressive  lesson  has  been  taught  us  on  this 
kind  of  evidence  by  the  application  of  a  rule  in  the 
practice  of  the  United  States  court  which  requires 
proof  by  the  illogical  method.  There  is  a  rule  that 
if  in  the  trial  of  a  case  the  court  makes  an  improper 
ruling  against  a  person  charged  with  crime  and  he  is 
convicted,  a  higher  court  must  grant  a  new  trial  on 
application  unless  it  is  positively  proved  that  the 
ruling  did  not  in  any  way  affect  the  defendant  in¬ 
juriously.  In  other  words  the  state  is  required  to 
prove  a  negative.  So  difficult  is  it  for  a  court  to 
avoid  all  errors  in  rulings,  and  so  difficult  to  sustain 
a  negative  proposition  even  beyond  a  reasonable 
doubt  that  no  important  case  is  lost  without  appeal, 
and  few  cases  without  a  new  trial.  This  has  led  to 
such  protracted  and  expensive  litigation,  and  such 
a  miscarriage  of  justice  that  President  Roosevelt  in 
an  annual  message  to  Congress  advised  that  a  law 
be  enacted  requiring  the  person  claiming  to  have 
been  aggrieved  in  such  a  case  to  show  affirmatively 
that  he  had  been  wronged,  if  he  would  make  an  er¬ 
roneous  ruling  the  basis  of  a  claim  for  a  new  trial. 
This  seems  to  place  the  burden  of  proof  on  the  de¬ 
fendant,  but  in  fact  it  only  allows  the  defendant 
against  one  charge  to  become  a  prosecutor  on  another 
charge,  and  he  must  present  affirmative  proof  to  sus¬ 
tain  his  charge.  It  is  no  more  than  just  to  require 
him  to  bear  the  burden  of  presenting  this  proof. 

The  principle  involved  in  the  rule  of  the  court  has 
its  direct  bearing  on  the  case  we  are  considering. 
The  “if”  assumes  that  two  negatives,  namely,  that 
Jesus  was  not  of  supernatural  birth,  and  that  he  was 


Supernatural  Birth  and  Resurrection  of  Jesus  37 


not  raised  from  the  dead,  may  be  scientifically 
proved.  This  assumption  both  logic  and  science  re¬ 
fuse  to  allow.  Logic  will  not  allow  it  because  they 
are  negative  propositions,  the  logical  proof  of  which 
is  not  now  attainable,  if  it  ever  existed ;  and  science 
does  not  ask  for  it,  for  of  all  forms  of  human  in¬ 
quiry  science  is  opposed  to  placing  value  on  nega¬ 
tive  results.  How  long  has  science  sought  for  the 
missing  link?  How  many  failures  to  find  it  will 
be  required  to  prove  that  it  does  not  exist?  For 
science  to  say  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  rise  from  the 
dead  would  be  unscientific  in  the  extreme.  It  might 
deny  the  validity  of  the  proof  offered  in  favor  of  the 
belief,  but  it  is  no  part  of  its  mission  to  deny  the 
event  as  a  possibe  fact. 

But  it  may  be  asked  what  difference  it  makes 
whether  reasons  are  offered  for  belief  in  a  negative 
proposition  or  reasons  that  would  prove  the  contra¬ 
dictory  affirmative;  why  it  is  not  as  legitimate  to 
argue  directly  for  the  denial  of  the  supernatural 
birth  and  resurrection  as  to  argue  for  facts  that 
would  be  inconsistent  with  such  claim.  In  this  case 
it  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world.  The  first 
claim  is  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  of  supernatural 
birth.  Put  in  the  form  of  its  contradictory  affirma¬ 
tive  it  must  be  claimed  that  he  had  a  human  father. 
This  is  the  only  form  of  a  contradictory  which  we 
can  imagine  in  the  case.  But  the  bare  statement  of 
it  in  this  form  puts  it  beyond  the  reach  of  present 
controversy.  It  is  beyond  the  reach  of  present 
scientific  proof  as  a  question  of  fact.  It  is  a  question 
of  balancing  evidences  of  probability.  We  may 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


justly  claim  that  the  burden  of  proof  belongs  to  those 
who  believe  in  the  supernatural  birth,  and  if  one 
chooses  he  may  demand  for  himself  higher  proofs 
than  any  yet  given,  but  the  believer  cannot  be  justly 
charged  with  being  illogical  or  unscientific.  . 

The  case  of  the  resurrection  may  be  argued  in 
precisely  the  same  way  as  that  of  the  supernatural 
birth.  The  only  logical  proof  against  the  fact  of  the 
resurrection  must  show  what  became  of  the  body  of 
Christ.  The  case  is  made  stronger  for  the  believer 
than  that  of  the  supernatural  birth,  because  those 
who  originally  denied  the  resurrection  had  the  op¬ 
portunity,  the  facilities  and  the  motive  to  prove  its 
contradictory  if  their  contentions  had  been  just;  and 
they  do  not  seem  ever  to  have  attempted  to  do  this 
except  by  bribing  false  witnesses  to  say  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives  that  while  they  slept  on  guard  the 
body  was  stolen  away.  Within  fifty  days  the  evi¬ 
dences  of  the  resurrection  were  proclaimed  in  the 
most  public  manner,  but  the  Jewish  enemies  of 
Christ,  who  were  determined  to  stamp  out  the  new 
doctrine,  do  not  seem  to  have  ever  brought  the 
charge  against  the  apostles  even  in  their  most  un¬ 
scrupulous  attacks.  Why  did  they  not  bring  the 
charge  before  Pilate  or  some  Roman  court  where 
the  evidence  could  be  presented  and  the  new  error 
thus  crushed  at  a  single  blow  ?  Apparently  they 
neither  made  such  a  claim  formally  before  the  court 
nor  informally  in  their  most  lawless  proceedings,  and 
the  case,  so>  far  as  positive  proof  is  concerned,  is  be¬ 
yond  review.  The  only  logical  conclusion  is  for  us 
to  say  that  the  case  of  the  supernatural  birth  and 


Supernatural  Birth  and  Resurrection  of  Jesus  39 


resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  as  facts  is  absolutely 
closed  against  all  available  positive  evidence  in  proof 
of  their  scientific  impossibility. 

But  while  science  has  nothing  to  say  in  support 
of  a  denial  of  the  possibility  of  such  facts  it  may 
have  many  things  to  say  as  to  their  manifestation  in 
particular  cases,  and  may  prove  so  strong  a  correc¬ 
tive  of  superstition  as  to  be  an  important  ally  of  the 
truth.  But  the  testimony  of  science  is  not  all  on 
the  side  of  doubt.  The  revelation  which  science 
makes  of  the  unity  of  plan  and  purpose  in  creation 
points  clearly  to  a  supreme  organizer,  and  when 
nature  reveals  imperfections  here  or  there  she  may 
use  science  to  foster  the  belief  that  the  plan  is  larger 
than  we  have  thought,  and  that  help  may  come  from 
a  higher  power  that  made  us  a  part  of  a  greater 
whole.  The  earth  may  still  foster  a  larger  science 
than  has  yet  been  discovered. 


CHAPTER  III 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incred¬ 
ible 

*  I  '  HE  consideration  of  the  impossibility  of  now 
■**  disproving  the  supernatural  birth  and  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  Christ  as  facts  leads  us  out  naturally  to  the 
broader  question  of  the  incredibility  of  any  super¬ 
natural  event.  In  the  face  of  such  arguments  as 
those  presented  it  can  hardly  be  claimed  that  science 
can  prove  the  events  discussed  to  be  impossible,  and 
against  the  evidences  involved  in  the  rise  and  ex¬ 
istence  of  the  church,  history  is  not  likely  to  declare 
them  false  as  facts.  The  most  that  can  be  done  is 
to  throw  doubt  upon  them.  Yet  with  the  same  bold 
assumption  as  was  manifest  in  presuming  that  science 
might  prove  them  impossible  it  is  insistently  main¬ 
tained  that  as  supernatural  events  they  are  incredible. 
This  form  of  argument  may  be  considered  as  prac¬ 
tically  beginning  with  the  philosopher  Hume.  It 
has  been  adapted  to  modern  polemics  by  a  class  of 
scientists  who  would  accept  nothing  as  fact  which 
does  not  appeal  to  the  senses. 

The  argument  is  two-fold :  psychological,  based 
on  our  consciousness  of  intellectual  experience,  and 
materialistic,  based  on  our  experience  of  physical  na¬ 
ture.  The  psychological  argument  is  that  of  Hume, 
and  the  materialistic  has  grown  up  with  modern 
science.  Let  us  first  consider  the  psychological  argu- 

40 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible  41 


ment.  As  put  by  Hume  it  is  substantially  as  fol¬ 
lows:  “All  beliefs  grow  out  of  experience.  My 
experience  of  human  testimony  is  that  it  is  unreliable, 
hence  the  state  of  my  mind  as  to  any  man’s  word 
must  be  one  of  doubt.  I  always  look  for  corrobora¬ 
tive  evidence  to  support  it.  The  word  itself  is  not 
sufficient.  But  my  experience  of  nature  is  that  it 
is  uniform.  I  do  not  ask  other  evidence  to  support 
any  particular  act  that  shows  this  uniformity.  There¬ 
fore  no  amount  of  human  testimony  can  establish 
in  me  a  belief  in  an  event  which  has  not  the  uni¬ 
formity  of  nature  or  which  is  opposed  to  it;  that  is, 
in  the  supernatural.”  This  seems  to  be  a  fair  logical 
argument.  It  does  not  deny  the  possibility  of  the 
supernatural,  which  as  a  negative,  might  be  incapable 
of  proof,  but  it  denies  the  possibility  of  the  author’s 
being  made  to  believe  in  the  supernatural  on  any 
human  testimony.  This  is  also  a  negative,  but  it 
is  a  fair  conclusion,  for  its  contradictory,  that  is, 
that  the  value  of  a  man’s  particular  experience  of 
testimony,  which  is  always  less  than  certainty,  is 
greater  than  the  value  of  his  experience  of  the  uni¬ 
formity  of  nature,  which  has  never  had  an  exception 
to  take  from  its  certainty,  is  absurd.  It  is  like  mak¬ 
ing  a  part  greater  than  the  whole.  This  argues  not 
only  the  unreasonableness  of  belief  in  the  super¬ 
natural  on  psychological  grounds,  but  it  argues  the 
impossibility  of  the  author’s  being  made  to  believe 
in  the  supernatural  by  any  human  testimony. 

But  not  only  Hume’s  beliefs,  but  my  beliefs  de¬ 
pend  upon  experience,  as  do  all  our  ideas.  This 
must  be  psychologically  true,  and  must  be  accepted 


42 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


to  make  the  argument  valid.  Then  the  argument 
should  be  good  for  me  as  well  as  for  Hume,  and  for 
all  others  who  have  not  seen  miracles  as  for  me.  It 
goes  to  the  extent  of  denying,  on  psychical  grounds, 
the  possibility  of  any  one’s  being  made  to  believe  in 
miracles  on  human  testimony.  In  fact  Hume  seems 
to  have  had  this  idea  in  mind  for  he  says,  “Who¬ 
ever  is  moved  by  faith  to  assent  to  the  Christian 
religion  is  conscious  of  a  continued  miracle  in  his 
own  person,  which  subverts  all  the  principles  of  his 
understanding.’7  This  can  only  mean  that  a  pro¬ 
fessed  belief  in  the  supernatural  is  not  real  belief; 
for  if  he  says  it  must  be  a  miracle  and  he  does  not 
believe  in  miracles,  then  he  means  to  deny  the  reality 
of  such  a  belief.  He  would  doubtless  say  that  the 
so-called  belief  is  superficial,  and  that  a  doubt  really 
stronger  than  the  belief  lurks  underneath,  which  it 
is  only  necessary  to  bring  into  consciousness  to  re¬ 
move  all  pretense  of  belief  in  the  miraculous.  He 
elsewhere  distinctly  says  he  believes  he  is  about  to 
establish  a  conclusive  argument  that  will  eradicate 
belief  in  the  miraculous  from  the  thoughts  of  men. 
We  must  be  sure  that  those  who  tell  of  seeing  the 
miraculous  are  mistaken  in  themselves,  or  trying  to 
deceive  us.  Indeed  one  who  had  seen  what  is  called 
a  miracle  could  never  honestly  call  it  supernatural, 
for  it  would  be  more  natural,  or  rather  it  would  be 
the  only  natural  thing,  for  him  to  say  that  while  he 
could  not  then  explain  it  he  might  explain  it  in  the 
future  when  he  had  more  knowledge,  a  situation  of 
which  he  has  had  much  experience. 

But  it  is  a  firmly  established  fact  that  all  our 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible  43 


ideas  depend  upon  experience,  no  less  than  our  be¬ 
liefs;  and  we  are  forced  to  take  a  more  advanced 
position  still  and  say  it  would  be  impossible  for  the 
idea  of  the  supernatural  ever  to  occur  to  a  human 
being  on  this  earth;  for  it  is  natural  that  a  finite 
creature  should  think  of  the  inexplicable,  of  which 
we  have  an  abundance  of  experience — and  experi¬ 
ence  can  go  no  further  in  the  case  of  what  is  called 
miraculous  than  to  say  it  is  beyond  our  present 
power  to  explain.  The  succession  of  cause  and  ef¬ 
fect  is  called  a  chain,  but  the  figure  is  misleading  in 
this  that  the  links  are  not  seen  to  overlap  and  inter¬ 
lock.  We  do  not  know  how  many  links  there  may 
be  between  any  two  which  we  see  and  think  of  as 
connected.  A  fault  in  the  chain  which  is  said  by 
some  to  be  filled  by  the  supernatural,  is  filled  by  oth¬ 
ers  by  supposing  natural  links  which  we  do  not  see, 
and  we  would  always  suppose  such  links  to  exist,  for 
we  have  often  discovered  them  even  where  little 
suspected.  Experience  tells  us  that  the  undiscov¬ 
ered  may  be  discovered,  but  the  supernatural  never 
comes  into  our  experience.  Experience  has  given 
us  a  clue  to  the  idea  of  the  discoverable  but  not  to 
the  idea  of  the  supernatural. 

But  the  idea  of  the  supernatural  is  found  in  the 
mind  and  that  not  only  in  the  minds  of  the  mature 
but  in  minds  of  all  degrees  of  development,  in  the 
minds  of  children,  and  in  all  climes  and  all  ages  of 
the  world.  The  argument  that  leads  to  the  conclu¬ 
sion  that  such  a  belief,  even  such  an  idea,  is  impossi¬ 
ble  must  be  weak  somewhere.  Must  we  not  con¬ 
clude  that  we  get  more  by  experience  than  the  argu- 


44  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


ment  of  Humie  recognizes? 

The  psychological  argument  leads  to  the  denial  of 
the  possibility  of  the  notion  of  the  supernatural  as 
coming  from  natural  experience.  Thus  far  it  must 
go,  and  thus  far  it  seems  perfectly  logical,  if  we  ac¬ 
cept  the  limitations  of  knowledge  necessary  to  the 
argument  itself.  How  the  thought  of  the  super¬ 
natural  could  ever  come  into  the  human  mind  is  the 
problem  for  the  psychological  doubter  to  solve.  It 
seems  psychologically  true  that  all  beliefs  go  back  to 
experience,  not  only  for  their  validity  but  for  the 
conception  of  the  terms  in  which  they  are  stated.  On 
natural  grounds  the  idea  of  the  supernatural  should 
never  have  entered  the  human  mind. 

Remembering  this  result  of  the  metaphysical  ar¬ 
gument  to  which  we  have  come,  let  us  now  drop  its 
consideration  and  turn  for  the  present  to  the  phys¬ 
ical  argument.  This  is  a  legitimate  descendent  of 
Hume’s  argument  and  differs  from  it  only  in  sub¬ 
stituting  the  term  law  for  uniformity  of  experience. 
This  seems  at  first  sight  to  put  a  different  phase  on 
the  argument,  for  instead  of  the  metaphysical  ques¬ 
tion  of  the  origin  of  beliefs,  and  the  subjective  no¬ 
tions  of  experience,  we  are  asked  to  weigh  the  value 
of  what  is  presented  as  the  objective  existence  of 
law ;  and  it  strikes  us  as  something  more  substantial, 
and  the  arguments  based  on  it  seem  more  indis¬ 
putable.  It  is  so  outside  of  ourselves  that  there  can 
be  no  prejudice  for  or  against  it.  Law  is  the  end 
of  argument. 

But  the  physical  argument  does  not  differ  essen¬ 
tially  from  the  metaphysical  in  its  strength  or  its 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible 


45 


weakness,  and  it  appears  to  be  more  conclusive  only 
because  in  its  terms  it  falls  in  more  with  the  lines 
of  modern  thought.  The  law  itself,  so  far  as  it  is 
only  natural  law,  while  it  seems  so  objective,  so  a 
thing  in  itself,  and  is  a  handy  substitute  in  thinking 
and  in  argument,  is  only  a  more  general  expression 
for  the  subjective  experience  of  the  uniformity  of 

nature.  We  shall  soon  see  that  the  physical  argu¬ 

ment  fails  at  precisely  the  same  point  as  the  meta¬ 
physical. 

The  first  thing  to  be  noticed  in  respect  to  the 

physical  argument  is,  that  the  term  natural  law  is 

misleading,  and  as  used  by  the  strict  materialist,  it  is 
self-contradictory.  However  the  physical  philoso¬ 
pher  may  define  nature,  the  materialist  always  im¬ 
plies  that  it  is  matter,  and  only  acts  on  matter, 
among  other  things  on  the  senses.  But  so-called 
natural  laws  have  no  existence  in  that  kind  of  nature 
which  affects  the  senses.  In  nature  a  fact  is  what 
it  is  by  itself  alone  regardless  of  all  other  facts.  If 
any  force  or  connection  exists  between  any  two  facts, 
it  exists  regardless  of  any  other  combination  of  facts. 
Only  the  idea  of  law  exists  for  the  materialist,  as  for 
other,  and  that  as  a  substitute  for  the  idea  of  uni¬ 
formity.  Matter  acts  according  to  its  own  nature, 
it  cannot  do  otherwise.  Its  actions  may  conform  to 
the  law  of  its  maker  if  there  is  such  a  law,  as  a  pic¬ 
ture  conforms  to  the  idea  of  the  artist,  but  it  does 
not  mean  anything  to  say  that  matter  obeys  law. 
Obedience  implies  the  power  of  disobedience,  the 
power  of  choice,  will.  The  power  of  choice  or  will 
is  the  very  thing  which  the  materialist  denies  to  mat- 


46  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


ter  and  to  all  things  that  appeal  to  the  senses.  Mat¬ 
ter  may  exhibit  conformity  to  law,  but  it  cannot 
strictly  be  said  to  obey  law  without  giving,  it  the 
power  of  free  choice.  To  think  of  law  as  objective, 
is  to  think  of  it  as  above  nature  or  supernatural. 
Used  by  the  strict  materialist  the  expression  is  but  a 
confession  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  proclaimed  belief 
to  satisfy  his  mind. 

But  let  us  take  the  word  law  as  used  by  physical 
philosophers  of  a  larger  class.  We  are  told  by  the 
philologist  that  the  Latin  word  for  law  points  to  its 
origin  with  the  king  who  substituted  a  general  ex¬ 
pression  of  his  will  for  specific  directions  which  it 
would  be  impossible  for  him  to  give  when  immediate 
communication  with  all  his  subjects  was  impractic¬ 
able.  The  law  indicated  what  the  king  expected 
of  his  subjects,  and  fixed  the  penalties  which  would 
follow  a  failure  to  heed  the  directions.  Thus  the 
law  was  the  king’s  deputy,  and  it  limited  the  king  in 
the  exaction  of  penalties  and  the  subjects  in  its  com¬ 
mands.  But  it  was  the  product  of  a  free  will,  and 
it  could  be  changed  by  the  will  that  made  it.  And 
it  might  be  violated  by  the  subjects.  The  one  un¬ 
changeable  thing  about  it  was  that  so  long  as  it  stood 
the  king  was  bound  not  to  demand  a  greater  penalty 
than  the  law  had  prescribed. 

As  the  civil  law  did  not  originate  with  the  subject 
but  in  the  mind  of  the  king,  and  as  it  was  its  purpose 
to  represent  him  to  his  subjects,  so  what  we  call 
natural  law  exists  objectively  to  us  only  in  an  intelli¬ 
gence  above  nature,  and  it  is  manifested  through  the 
uniformity  of  nature,  in  order  to  reveal  to  us  some- 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible  47 


thing  of  the  way  in  which  it  is  designed  that  creat¬ 
ed  objects  should  behave.  It  was  not  designed  to 
control  nature,  but  it  gives  intelligent  beings  for 
their  guidance  a  knowledge  of  the  way  material 
nature  is  controlled.  If  then  we  get  the  idea  of 
law  by  experience,  we  must  conclude  that,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  metaphysical  argument,  we  get  some¬ 
thing  by  experience  which  the  senses  do  not  give. 
We  may,  then,  include  both  psychological  skepticism 
and  materialistic  unbelief  as  to  the  supernatural 
under  one  head,  as  failing  to  account  for  the  origin 
of  the  idea  and  the  belief  of  the  supernatural,  and  as 
ignoring  or  denying  a  power  of  mind  higher  than 
sense  perception,  the  very  power  that  is  necessary  to 
originate  such  an  idea  or  belief. 

Here  we  ought  to  make  a  distinction  which  it  is 
easy  to  overlook.  It  is  not  the  same  thing  to  say 
that  an  idea  ought  to  be  held  as  subject  to  the  test 
of  experience,  as  it  is  to  say  that  the  idea  must  come 
from  experience.  It  may  come  with  experience  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  subject  to  experimental 
test  without  coming  from  it.  The  notion  a  child 
forms  of  an  animal  when  it  looks  at  a  picture  book 
does  not  come  from  the  picture,  but  its  correctness 
may  be  tested  by  sight  of  animals  of  that  kind.  The 
corrected  notion  does  not  come  from  the  animals 
seen  for  the  child  knows  it  is  subject  to  the  test  of 
other  animals  which  may  differ  from  them  in  many 
ways.  The  notion  is  the  representative  of  the  class, 
and  may  be  tested  by  comparing  it  with  any  one 
individual  of  the  class,  but  it  is  not  an  individual  of 
the  class,  nor  is  it  a  flock,  or  herd,  or  company  of 


48  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


individuals.  The  mind  is  stimulated  by  experience 
to  form  the  notion,  but  the  power  to  form  the  notion 
is  different  from  that  of  using  the  senses.  The  same 
is  true  of  numerical  notions,  of  notions  of  geometrical 
forms  which  cannot  be  perfectly  tested,  of  notions 
of  right  and  wrong  and  of  other  classes  of  notions. 
No  one  has  ever  been  able  to  conceive  of  conscious¬ 
ness,  or  the  simple  act  of  knowing,  as  belonging  to 
sense  impressions,  yet  no  thought  exists  for  us  except 
in  consciousness.  It  may  seem  strange  that  a  power 
transcending  the  senses,  so  common  as  this,  and  so 
necessary  to  recognize  in  discussing  the  supernatural, 
should  be  ignored,  but  to  deny  it  is  to  sweep  away 
the  foundations  of  intelligence  and  reasoning,  and  to 
admit  it  opens  the  door  at  once  for  the  admission  of 
the  supernatural.  If  we  mean  by  nature  only  that 
which  appeals  to  the  senses  we  are  continually  in 
conscious  contact  with  the  supernatural.  For  as 
Robert  South  says,  the  understanding  is  “not  only  an 
open  window  but  itself  the  prospect.” 

Let  us  not  however  be  led  into  any  confusion  by 
an  uncertain  or  careless  use  of  the  word  supernatural. 
If  a  spirit  after  death  should  return  to  its  body  and 
give  undeniable  evidence  of  its  identity,  the  fact  that 
it  had  been  able  to  exist  without  the  body  would  be 
recognized,  and  the  event  would  undoubtedly  be 
called  supernatural.  If  such  spirits  exist,  then  they 
exist  as  supernatural  beings  whether  they  reveal 
themselves  through  nature  or  not.  If  this  be  true 
we  are  shut  up  to  the  dilemma  of  believing  that 
there  is  a  realm  of  supernatural  beings,  or  that  death 
ends  all.  But  if  we  accept  the  doctrine  of  a  future 


1 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible  49 


life  the  question  may  be  fairly  asked  when  does  the 
spirit  become  supernatural?  Is  it  not  a  reasonable 
belief  that  the  soul  of  man  has  a  two-fold  relation¬ 
ship,  that  it  is  allied  to  the  natural  world  by  birth 
and  dependence  on  the  body  for  its  earthly  develop¬ 
ment  and  manifestation,  and  allied  to  the  super¬ 
natural  in  the  character  of  its  powers,  its  aspirations 
and  its  destiny?  If  we  make  a  clear  margin  between 
the  natural  and  the  supernatural,  may  it  not  be 
narrower  than  we  sometimes  think?  Is  not  the 
boundary  one  that  may  be  crossed?  Is  there  not  a 
unity  of  which  the  mind  gets  a  glimpse?  As  the 
oak  tree  springs  from  the  acorn,  the  bird  from  the 
egg,  the  butterfly  from  the  worm,  what  is  there  un¬ 
reasonable  in  the  supposition  that  this  part  of  man, 
which  even  under  earthly  limitations  seems  allied 
to  the  supernatural,  should  at  some  time  assume  a 
still  higher  condition  and  still  higher  powers  ?  While 
the  soul  in  its  relations  to  physical  nature,  which  is 
the  sphere  or  realm  of  all  the  laws  of  physical  phi¬ 
losophy,  might  from  one  aspect  be  justly  called  su¬ 
pernatural,  yet  in  its  activities  as  they  are  manifested 
it  is  so  far  conformable  to  laws  that  are  inferred 
from  nature,  that  it  seems  better  to  extend  our  con¬ 
ception  of  nature  and  add  to  it  the  powers  of  the 
mind.  That  which  it  is  right  to  insist  upon  is,  that 
there  is  in  man  a  power  above  physical  nature,  and 
one  that  places  him  in  the  attitude  of  anticipating  a 
realm  of  existence  still  above  that  to  which  he  has 
attained. 

If  still  further  evidence  of  the  distinction  between 
mind  and  sense,  and  of  the  affinity  of  the  mind  to 


50 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


the  supernatural,  be  required  it  may  be  found  in  the 
relation  of  mind  to  time  and  space.  One  of  the 
most  marked  characteristics  of  the  supernatural,  as 
we  conceive  of  it,  is  its  comparative  freedom,  from 
these  limitations.  The  soul  of  man  has  a  similar 
freedom.  Its  limitations  in  these  respects  seem  main 
ly  due  to  its  dependence  on  the  body.  With  every 
sense-perception  there  is  always  the  affirmation  of 
here  and  now.  In  so  far  the  mind  is  limited  by  the 
conditions  of  time  and  space.  But  in  its  higher 
powers  it  is  not  so  limited.  It  thinks  of  events  that 
took  place  in  the  far  distant  past  and  in  far  off  places 
or  without  connecting  them  with  time  and  place,  and 
of  events  to  come  in  the  far  distant  future,  or 
that  may  never  be  realized.  And  it  is  moved  by 
these  thoughts.  If  one  says  these  ideas  ,  are  only 
fancies  and  have  no  reality,  and  that  there  is  nothing 
by  which  they  can  be  tested  this  is  the  very,  burden 
of  the  contention.  They  have  no>  such  reality  as  a 
waterfall,  or  a  current  of  electricity,  and  their,  weight 
or  measure  cannot  be  told.  They  may  vanish  into 
thinner  than  thin  air  and  leave  nature  as  though 
they  had  not  been.  There  is  no  accounting  for  them 
as  products  of  nature,  yet  no  purposed  act  of  man  is 
without  them.  Being  used  they  are  not  exhausted 
like  the  forces  of  nature,  but  often  increase  in  in¬ 
tensity. 

Not  real,  like  iron  and  stone,  yet  they  are  the 
mainspring  of  all  the  great  achievements  of  the  race. 
Whatever  war  is  waged,  whatever  battle  is  fought, 
whatever  scheme  is  pursued  or  invention  devised, 
whatever  state  is  established  or  institution  organized, 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible  51 


the  idea  always  goes  before  the  fact,  and  is  essential 
to  its  realization.  It  is  the  pattern  after  which 
things  are  brought  into  being,  or  by  which  things  are 
brought  to  pass.  Men  believe  in  the  idea  as  a  power 
in  the  world.  So  dominating  is  it  that  there  is  no 
complete  and  consistent  conception  of  a  plan  for  at¬ 
taining  an  end  that  does  not  bring  conviction  to  the 
mind  of  the  contriver  that  success  is  already  within 
his  grasp.  A  Napoleon  is  halted  in  his  victorious 
march  by  dark  and  rugged  mountains.  He  stops 
and  thinks.  In  his  mind  he  sees  the  passage  opened. 
He  organizes  victory  over  this  new  foe  with  an  idea 
before  his  army  takes  another  step.  He  looks  again 
at  the  frowning  mountain  and  says  “The  Alps! 
the  Alps !  there  are  no  Alps.”  When  again  the  com¬ 
mand  to  march  is  given  the  effort  is  energized  and 
directed  by  the  idea  and  in  spite  of  snow  and  ice 
and  falling  rock,  in  spite  of  hostile  forces  in  narrow 
pass  and  deep  ravine  and  on  the  mountain  side  and 
highest  peak  he  gains  the  other  side  and  victory  is 
won.  A  Roebling  stands  on  the  bank  of  East  River 
and  sees  the  tide  of  waters  go  untiringly  by,  and 
watches  the  tide  of  passengers  and  freight  anxiously 
waiting  or  laboriously  struggling  for  passage  to  the 
other  side.  Months  and  years  roll  on.  The  tide 
of  waters  does  not  cease.  The  tide  of  passengers 
swells  to  an  angry  mob.  The  crowds  grow  more 
dense,  the  delays  more  aggravating,  and  the  dis¬ 
appointments  of  business  and  pleasure  multiply. 
Roebling  thinks.  There  comes  to  his  mind,  without 
stroke  of  hammer  or  heat  of  forge,  the  idea  of  a 
structure  that  would  open  free  and  continuous 


52  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


passage  from  side  to  side  both  day  and  night  and 
when  you  will,  and  when  the  idea  is  complete  he 
says,  “Brooklyn  bridge,  be!”  and  Brooklyn  bridge  is. 

One  must  be  aware  in  writing  thus  on  this  sub¬ 
ject  that  some  one  will  perhaps  say,  “O,  that  ques¬ 
tion  of  the  origin  of  ideas  is  as  old  as  Plato’s  theory 
of  pre-existence,  and  I  supposed  it  had  been  settled 
by  physical  philosophy  long  ago,  and  that  Herbert 
Spencer  especially  had  given  it  the  coup  de  grace.” 
No,  it  is  a  question  that  pure  physical  philosophy 
cannot  reach,  much  less  settle.  All  it  can  say  is, 
“I  know  nothing  of  the  coming  of  ideas  into  con¬ 
sciousness.”  But  the  question  will  come  up  and 
will  down  at  no  man’s  bidding. 

“Else  whence  this  pleasing  hope,  this  fond  desire, 

This  longing  after  immortality,” 
is  but  one  of  many  phases  of  the  general  question 
that  finds  no  answer  in  the  research  of  physical 
forces.  The  question  is  perennial.  This  fact  alone, 
the  fact  that  for  more  than  two  thousand  years  this 
problem  in  one  form  or  another  has  been  knocking 
at  the  gates  of  the  understanding  and  demanding  so¬ 
lution,  should  give  one  pause  if  he  is  larger  than  his 
physical  theories — and  it  is  not  possible  for  his  theor¬ 
ies  to  be  greater  than  himself — if  he  cares  more  for 
himself  than  for  his  philosophy.  Gorgons  and  “dire 
chimeras  and  enchanted  isles”  were  long  since  rele¬ 
gated  to  the  nursery,  but  study  of  the  idea  grows 
more  intense  as  the  ages  pass,  and  it  becomes  more 
important  in  gaining  mastery  over  the  physical 
world.  Without  it  physical  philosophy  itself  could 
not  have  been,  and  if  it  could  have  been  it  would 


Evidence  of  the  Supernatural  Not  Incredible  53 


have  been  impotent  for  any  good. 

Should  it  be  so  easy  to  believe  in  the  power  of  the 
idea  to  stir  the  human  soul  to  liveliest  thought  and 
bravest  deed,  and  to  realize  itself  in  the  physical 
world,  and  yet  incredible  that  He  on  whose  patterns 
the  foundations  of  the  earth  were  laid  should  reveal 
himself  as  a  living  power,  and  as  able  to  exercise 
his  will  in  directing  the  creatures  of  his  hand? 

As  we  found  that  there  was  absolutely  no  force  in 
the  presumption  that  the  supernatural  birth  and  res¬ 
urrection  of  Jesus  Christ  might  be  scientifically 
proved  to  be  impossible,  so  we  now  conclude,  con¬ 
sidering  all  the  logical  absurdities  it  necessitates,  that 
the  argument  for  the  incredibility  of  the  supernat¬ 
ural  based  on  such  uniformity  as  has  been  observed 
is  absolutely  without  force.  The  affinity  of  the  nat¬ 
ural  for  the  supernatural  forbids  the  divorce. 


CHAPTER  IV 


The  Reign  of  Law 

TV/T  ANY  realms,  not  one,  and  no  known  law  per- 
***  feet,  or  good  for  all  realms. 

Probably  the  most  effective  argument  against  the 
supernatural,  in  the  mind  of  the  skeptic  of  scientific 
modes  of  thinking  at  the  present  day,  is  based  on  his 
conception  of  the  reign  of  law.  This  is  a  step  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  the  claim  of  uniformity,  or  a  blind  confi¬ 
dence  in  the  sufficiency  of  one’s  experience  of  the  reg¬ 
ularity  of  nature.  It  does  not  deny  the  possibility, 
or  even  the  probability,  of  the  existence  of  beings 
superior  to  the  dwellers  on  this  earth,  or  even  of  a 
supreme  being.  It  maintains  the  impropriety  and 
inconsistency  of  the  interference  of  any  such  beings 
in  the  events  of  this  world,  which  seems  limited  and 
exclusively  subject  to  laws  of  its  own.  The  concep¬ 
tion  seems  rather  to  necessitate  the  conception  of  a 
lawgiver,  as  is  quite  generally  admitted,  but  it  is  a 
realm  by  itself.  There  is  apparently  so  much  force 
in  this  argument  as  seriously  to  affect  some  very  can¬ 
did  men,  and  it  deserves  a  most  careful  consideration. 

Accepting  the  meaning  of  the  word  law  before 
described,  and  even  going  so  far  as  to  grant  that  it 
may  have  its  source  in  the  mind  of  a  supreme  ruler 
of  this  and  other  worlds,  yet  as  we  know  it  it  be¬ 
longs  to  this  realm  and  it  may  be  said  that  it  ought 
to  be  the  surest  guide  to  conduct  which  we  can  have, 

54 


The  Reign  of  Law 


55 


and  the  most  reliable  evidence  of  what  we  ought  to 
expect.  We  should  trust  the  giver  of  the  law  to 
support  it,  or  at  least  not  to  interfere  with  it,  so 
long  as  it  is  law.  Nor  should  he  allow  another  to 
interfere  between  himself  and  his  subjects.  In  the 
case  even  of  an  earthly  king  the  law  was  established 
to  assure  the  subjects  that  the  ruler  would  not  ex¬ 
act  different  conduct,  or  a  different  penalty  from 
that  prescribed  by  the  law.  If  another  was  allowed 
to  interfere  and  place  the  subject  beyond  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  the  ruler  the  claim  of  authority  was  abro¬ 
gated.  Why  then,  it  may  be  asked  in  all  confidence, 
why  should  not  we  who  are  placed  in  this  world, 
where  we  have  deciphered  so  many  of  the  laws  of 
creation,  trust  to  these  laws  for  guidance,  and  hold 
them  as  inviolable?  We  have  learned  slowly,  but 
surely,  that  we  cannot  violate  the  laws  of  health 
without  suffering  the  penalty.  We  can  trust  to  na¬ 
ture  to  do  all  that  the  laws  of  heat  and  the  laws  of 
mlechanics  prescribe,  and  that  the  penalties  which 
they  prescribe  for  violation  will  be  inexorably  en¬ 
forced.  Why  should  we  not  hold  as  the  strongest 
possible  belief  that  these  laws  stand  as  deputy  of  the 
creator  to  mark  the  limits  of  responsibility  and 
duty?  This  is  a  fair  question  and  honestly  asked, 
and  it  requires  a  substantial  and  unequivocal  reply. 

This  is  the  answer  in  brief:  while  we  are  placed 
in  a  physical  world  where  physical  law  is  writ  large, 
we  are  spiritual  beings  and  are  placed  in  a  world 
of  moral  and  spiritual  laws  as  well,  and  these  laws 
we  recognize  from  childhood  as  higher  than  physical 
laws.  That  they  were  designed  for  our  guidance  in 


56  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  N ature 


a  higher  sense  than  the  physical  laws  is  fittingly  man¬ 
ifest  in  the  fact  that  the  race  discovered  them  and 
the  child  learns  them  earlier  than  the  laws  of  nature. 
Mere  physical  existence  is  subject  to  physical  laws 
alone,  but  moral  beings  have  other  laws  as  well.  If 
the  two  classes  of  law  seem  to  us  to  conflict  in  their 
claims  to  control  our  conduct  or  belief,  there  should 
be  no  hesitation  as  to  which  has  the  higher  claims. 
Injury  to  the  body  comes  from  rescuing  a  child  from 
the  fire.  But  the  moral  law  is  supreme  with  us  in 
peril,  and  we  risk  life  to  save  the  life  of  the  child. 
The  law  of  self-preservation  is  called  the  first  law 
of  nature,  but  it  will  never  be  used  to  justify  the 
mountain  climber  who  cuts  the  rope  just  beyond  him, 
and  lets  his  fellow  travelers  go  over  the  cliff  to  their 
death  in  the  abyss  below  because  he  feared  the  rope 
would  break,  and  life  is  dear  to  him  now.  Should 
we  think  it  strange  that  physical  laws  seem  thus  to 
be  in  conflict  with  moral  laws  as  a  guide  to  conduct, 
we  may  ask  if  it  is  not  more  strange  that  in  the  same 
realm.,  whether  physical  or  moral,  there  are  forces 
that  act  against  one  another  to  the  destruction  of 
that  which  has  been  created.  And  it  will  not  har¬ 
monize  the  laws  to  eliminate  the  law-giver.  There 
is  something  deeper  than  sentiment  in  the  tribute  of 
Lanier  to  his  wife’s  eyes, 

I  marvel  that  God  made  you  mine, 

For  when  He  frowns,  tis  then  ye  shine. 

It  all  goes  to  show  an  imperfection  in  our  under¬ 
standing  of  creative  wisdom. 


The  Reign  of  Law 


57 


We  have  it  thus  forced  upon  our  minds  that  what 
we  call  law  is  very  imperfect.  We  should  not  sup¬ 
pose  that  any  event  is  a  violation  of  law  in  any  other 
sense  than  that  of  superior  claims  such  as  the  brave 
fireman  recognizes  when  he  saves  the  child  from 
death.  And  when  we  speak  of  superior  claims  we 
do  not  mean  those  that  outweigh  or  overmatch  in 
some  commercial  sense  the  lower  claims.  They  are 
superior  in  kind,  not  in  respect  to  uniformity  of  re¬ 
sults.  The  two  are  not  weighed  in  the  same  scales. 
Let  each  be  supreme  in  its  own  sphere.  When  the 
mind  deals  with  matter  it  does  it  according  to  the 
laws  of  matter,  but  it  does  it  intelligently  and  with 
moral  and  spiritual  purposes.  And  there  may  be 
physical  forces  outside  any  laws  yet  discovered,  which 
a  higher  intelligence  may  use.  We  can  set  no  limit 
to  what  a  supreme  intelligence  may  do  by  the  use  of 
forces  inherent  in  matter,  for  we  do  not  know  what 
all  these  forces  are,  nor  perfectly  even  what  any  one 
of  them  is. 

We  must  take  a  step  still  farther.  A  fact  of  great 
significance  in  considering  the  reign  of  law  is,  that 
even  in  what  is  called  nature  in  its  narrowest  sense, 
laws  are  not  so  universal  as  our  statements  of  them 
seem  to  imply.  In  our  finite  understanding,  and  our 
inability  to  express  our  thoughts,  we  cannot  frame 
any  statement,  or  give  expression  to  any  conception 
of  physical  law  which  we  are  sure  has  no  exception. 
Modify  and  limit  it  as  we  will  we  are  not  certain 
of  having  stated  the  exact  and  the  whole  truth. 
Exceptions  are  said  to  prove  a  law.  But  not  a 
perfect  law.  A  single  exception  proves  that  a  law 


58  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


is  not  the  true  law,  but  an  accommodation  to  an  im¬ 
perfect  understanding.  The  law  of  attraction  has 
its  limitations,  but  we  cannot  state  them  in  a  way 
to  be  sure  we  are  stating  the  exact  truth.  According 
to  this  law  any  two  atoms  in  space  attract  each  other 
with  a  force  that  increases  as  the  square  of  the  dis¬ 
tance  between  them  diminishes,  with  an  unknown 
“but.”  As  the  atoms  come  close  together  the  force 
increases  enormously,  and  if  they  should  come  into 
absolute  contact  it  would  require,  mathematically, 
an  infinite  force  to  separate  them.  Let  all  the  atoms 
of  a  body  come  thus  into  contact  and  it  would  re¬ 
quire  an  infinite  force  to  divide  it.  Let  two  such 
bodies  come  into  absolute  contact  and  they  could 
not  be  again  separated.  Let  all  matter  be  thus 
brought  together  and  only  infinite  power  could  break 
it  up  into  separate  objects.  But  before  any  two 
atoms  absolutely  touch  each  other  another  law  is 
supposed  to  exist  in  direct  opposition  to  the  law  of 
attraction.  When  two  atoms  come  within  a  very 
small  distance  there  is  developed  a  repelling  force 
which  increases  as  the  distance  diminishes  until  it 
becomes  mathematically  infinite  and  absolute  contact 
is  impossible  except  under  infinite  pressure.  But 
what  the  limits  of  distance  are  we  cannot  tell,  nor 
do  we  know  whether  the  forces  cease  to  act  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  law,  or  whether  at  a  certain  distance 
there  is  a  transformation  of  force,  or  what  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  the  case  may  be.  Of  this  much  we  are 
certain,  that  matter  exists  subject  to  two  laws  that 
are  opposed  to  each  other,  and  we  cannot  make  a 
universal  statement  of  either  law  limited  in  any 


The  Reign  of  Law 


59 


known  way  so  as  to  make  it  absolutely  true. 

There  are  separate  realms  for  the  different  laws 
of  motion.  If  a  body  is  moved  by  two  forces  at  the 
same  time  it  moves  in  a  direction  between  the  direc¬ 
tions  of  the  two  forces.  A  star  moves  in  a  direction 
determined  by  its  momentum  and  the  attractions  of 
all  the  other  stars  in  space.  But  the  waves  on  the 
surface  of  the  sea,  the  waves  of  air  started  by  the 
human  voice,  and  the  waves  of  light  coming  from  a 
tapir  or  from  the  heavenly  spheres,  cross  one  another 
without  loss,  and  each  goes  on  its  separate  way. 

The  presence  of  life  in  some  way  interferes  with 
the  action  of  the  law  of  gravity,  or  rather  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  the  law  to  explain  the  action  of  matter.  The 
presence  of  life  dominates  it.  The  circulation  of 
sap  in  a  tree,  which  results  in  raising  large  quanti¬ 
ties  of  matter  to  a  great  height,  ceases  when  life  is 
gone. 

The  existence  of  ether,  which  serves  as  wings  of 
light  as  is  supposed,  depends  for  its  serviceableness 
upon  the  very  fact  that  it  does  not  yield  to  the  law 
of  gravity,  and  Newton’s  great  law  limps  when  it 
comes  to  that.  Science  is  said  to  have  had  its  begin¬ 
ning  and  to  have  made  its  growth  by  the  use  of  the 
yard  stick  and  balance.  The  ether  does  not  respond 
to  either  standard  of  judgment,  yet  science  not  only 
does  not  deny  its  existence  but  assumes  it  to  explain 
many  natural  phenomena. 

The  laws  of  living  organisms  change  during  life. 
They  change  in  their  manifestation  in  respect  to 
growth,  the  development  of  powers,  and  in  decay 
from  infancy  to  old  age.  Life  is  divided,  accordingly, 


6o  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


into  distinctly  marked  stages.  The  moral  life  also 
has  its  stages  in  the  application  of  law.  In  the 
enforcement  of  obedience  both  family  government 
and  the  state  recognize  the  necessity  of  change  in 
the  moral  law  as  the  child  passes  from  infancy  to 
maturity. 

These  various  forms  in  which  law  has  to  be  stated 
to  adapt  it  to  the  variety  of  cases  to  which  it  must 
be  applied,  and  the  apparent  inconsistencies  we  meet, 
as  in  the  case  of  attraction  and  repulsion,  which  re¬ 
quire  an  utterly  unreasoning  and  indefinite  limitation 
of  the  laws,  make  it  seem  almost  necessary  to  change 
the  wording  of  our  present  theme  and  speak  of  the 
reign  of  laws  rather  than  the  reign  of  law. 

We  started  out  in  the  discussion  of  law  with  the 
assumption  that  nature  is  under  the  dominion  of  law ; 
that  law,  although  not  a  compelling  power  of  itself, 
is  the  ideal  pattern  to  which  all  things  must  for  some 
reason  conform.  But  a  single  exception  would  break 
down  the  law  and  we  were  not  able  to  find  any  one 
law  universal.  We  then  found  that  there  was  no 
division  of  nature  into  distinct  realms  over  which 
a  particular  law  or  set  of  laws  is  consistently,  ex¬ 
clusively  and  adequately  applicable.  Much  less  do 
we  find  a  supreme  law  over  all  of  nature.  What 
does  it  mean  that  we  can  find  no  realm  of  nature  in 
which  we  find  a  single  law  supreme?  What  does  it 
mean  that  laws  multiply  as  we  get  nearer  to  nature 
and  think  we  understand  it  better?  It  can  only 
mean  this,  that  the  original  pattern  of  nature  was 
in  a  free  will,  and  that  the  term  law  only  relates  to 
a  finite  understanding  of  that  pattern,  not  to  the 


The  Reign  of  Law 


61 


understanding  which  the  Creator  has  of  his  work. 
His  understanding  of  it  is  complete  and  perfect,  and 
extends  to  the  utmost  limits  of  detail  to  which 
his  power  extends.  He  knows  nature  in  all  its 
parts  and  elements.  He  does  not  need  to  compre¬ 
hend  things,  that  is  to  hold  a  multitude  of  things 
together  under  one  common,  general  notion,  such 
as  man  uses  to  reason  and  explain.  He  understands 
each  individual  in  itself,  however  small  and  of 
whatever  kind  it  may  be.  His  will  is  so  perfect  and 
self-consistent  that  however  it  manifests  itself  in 
nature  she  presents  consistent  views  of  the  will  of 
the  Creator.  Man  gets  glimpses  of  these  views  and 
calls  them  laws.  Law  is  in  fact  but  the  human  un¬ 
derstanding  of  the  consistency  and  harmony  of  the 
Creator’s  will.  This  understanding  is  more  or  less 
true,  but  will  never  arrive  at  complete  perfection  till 
the  finite  can  understand  the  infinite. 

The  harmony  of  nature’s  laws  as  seen  in  the  an¬ 
tagonisms  of  living  creatures  is  certainly  not  so  com¬ 
plete  and  perfect  as  to  forbid  the  addition  of  another 
note,  now  not  heard  by  human  ear,  to  lift  the  soul 
to  a  higher  conception  of  a  possible  harmony  for 
man.  There  is  no  reason  for  us  to  suppose  that 
the  reign  of  law,  such  as  it  is,  which  is  only  man  s 
conception,  stands  in  the  way  of  an  additional  revela¬ 
tion  of  the  creator’s  will.  It  offers  no  obstacle  to 
the  introduction  of  a  higher*  intelligence  capable  of 
directing  earth’s  forces  to  higher  ends  and  revealing 
new  laws  for  human  guidance. 

It  is  no  objection  to  the  introduction  of  a  higher 
cause  to  say  that  in  the  history  of  nature  there  has 


62  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


been  an  upward  tendency  which  has  shown  some  uni¬ 
formity  of  progress.  This  uniformity  is  largely  but 
apparent  and  only  holds  good  of  the  more  general 
views  of  development.  More  and  more  we  are 
coming  to  see  that  advances  are  made  by  stages,  or 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  that  there  have  been  long 
periods  of  waiting  for  preparation  to  make  another 
advance.  It  is  like  the  siege  of  a  city.  Work  is 
going  on  all  the  time,  but  there  are  times  for  advance 
and  attack  which  must  be  preceded  by  periods  of 
preparation.  This  is  the  history  of  geological  de¬ 
velopment.  The  azoic  age  is  sharply  separated  from 
fossil  bearing  rocks.  The  lines  that  mark  the  boun¬ 
daries  of  the  different  strata  of  the  earth’s  crust  are 
distinct.  The  glacial  and  the  carboniferous  periods 
are  clearly  defined.  These  are  all  evidences  of  sud¬ 
den  changes  taking  place  in  the  progress  of  geologic 
development.  Advances  in  organic  life  follow  the 
same  law.  There  is  a  period  for  the  growth  of  the 
brain,  another  for  the  limbs,  another  for  increase  of 
stature.  The  same  law  holds  good  for  intelligence. 
Discoveries,  inventions  and  improvements  must  be 
supported  by  something  outside  of  themselves  or  they 
will  come  to  naught.  Two  things  are  required  for 
real  advancement,  something  to  grow,  and  something 
to  support  growth.  Without  the  first  there  is  only 
addition,  not  growth;  without  the  second  there  is 
no  increase.  The  earth  with  its  forms  and  forces 
has  been  able  to  support  all  of  the  advances  that  have 
been  made.  Why  may  it  not  be  that  the  Creator’s 
plans  extend  this  law  to  a  wider  field  and  include  a 
progressive  revelation  of  his  will  for  higher  and 


The  Reign  of  Law 


63 


higher  ends,  using  nature  in  a  manner  to  suit  the 
ends  in  view?  Why  may  we  not  suppose  that  on 
that  portion  of  nature  which  presents  only  a  dark 
background  he  may  yet  paint  a  picture  more  har¬ 
monious  and  with  brighter  hues  than  any  that  have 
preceded  it?  If  it  is  claimed  that  he  has  revealed 
himself  from  time  to  time  in  the  past  in  such  a  pro¬ 
gressive  manner,  it  is  giving  earth  all  her  due  to 
say  she  has  been  prepared  to  support  these  different 
forms  of  revelation  as  they  have  come. 


CHAPTER  V 


Christian  Consciousness 

T  N STEAD  of  resting  on  the  conclusions  reached 
*^in  the  above  argument,  many  religious  persons 
seem  willing  to  give  way  to  the  claims  of  those  skep¬ 
tics  who  hold  that  the  case  is  scientifically  closed 
against  all  belief  in  the  supernatural.  They  seem  to 
be  willing  to  do  this  because  they  think  that  even  a 
belief  in  the  supernatural  birth  and  resurrection  of 
Christ  is  not  important  to  a  Christian  life.  To  make 
the  conclusions  we  have  reached  seem  important  to 
such,  assuming  that  they  appreciate  the  value  of 
Christian  living,  it  is  necessary  to  treat  briefly  the 
relation  of  a  belief  in  the  supernatural  birth  and 
resurrection  of  Christ  to  the  development  of  Chris¬ 
tian  Consciousness. 

If  any  one  fears  that  the  expression  “Christian 
Consciousness”  may  be  used  obscurely  or  ambigu¬ 
ously,  or  perhaps  in  a  mystical  sense,  he  may  be  as¬ 
sured  at  the  outset  that  the  term  does  not  refer  to 
any  doubtful  interpretation  of  the  mental  state,  nor 
to  any  peculiar  consciousness  that  grows  out  of  some 
occult  cause.  Like  consciousness  in  general,  it  re¬ 
fers  to  a  condition  of  the  mind  as  the  result  of  the 
perception  and  belief  of  the  truth,  or  of  that  which 
seems  the  truth.  By  Christian  Consciousness,  then, 
must  be  meant  the  state  of  the  mind  which  results 

64 


Christian  Consciousness 


65 


from  a  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  truth  about 
Christ.  What  are  the  basal  truths  about  Christ,  the 
knowledge  or  belief  of  which  determines  the  Chris¬ 
tian’s  state  of  mind? 

1.  He  believes  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins 

2.  He  believes  in  Christ’s  claims  upon  his  service. 

3.  He  believes  in  a  future  life  with  Christ. 

Let  us  consider  these  beliefs  in  order,  and  ask  our¬ 
selves  if  it  makes  no  difference  with  the  state  of  our 
minds  as  to  these  beliefs  whether  we  accept  the  su¬ 
pernatural  birth  and  resurrection  of  Christ  as  verit¬ 
able  facts  or  not. 

First,  we  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  This 
is  not  a  commercial  but  a  moral  fact.  Sin  involves 
the  character  of  the  sinner,  the  rights  of  some  one 
immediately  wronged,  the  well-being  of  every  per¬ 
son  directly  or  indirectly  affected  by  the  act,  and 
some  organic  whole  whose  function  it  is  to  enforce 
justice.  Sin  is  certainly  always  a  mistake,  but  not 
all  mistakes  are  sins.  Sin  is  always  a  misfortune, 
but  not  all  that  we  call  misfortune  is  sin.  To  the 
refusal  to  acknowledge  the  existense  of  such  a  char¬ 
acter  in  human  conduct  the  pains  of  conscience  and 
the  universal  enforcement  of  criminal  law  should 
be  a  sufficient  answer.  Ajny  (restoration  of  the 
sinner  must  be  as  broad  as  the  offense.  To  answer 
the  question  of  Job,  “How  can  man  be  just  with 
God?”  the  soul  has  sounded  its  deepest  depths.  And 
it  may  be  said  that  the  height  to  which  a  sinful  man 
can  hope  to  rise  is  measured  by  the  extent  to  which 
he  is  conscious  of  the  ill-desert  of  sin.  When  the 
Psalmist  says,  “As  is  thy  fear  so  is  thy  wrath,”  he 


66  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


uses  the  human  as  the  measure  of  the  consciousness 
of  its  answering  divine.  Some  conception  of  a  dis¬ 
tinction  between  sin  and  holiness  is  fundamental  to 
a  moral  being  in  a  world  where  temptations  are  rife, 
as  a  distinction  between  loyalty  and  treason  is  funda¬ 
mental  to  good  citizenship  in  times  of  civil  strife. 
On  the  field  of  Gettj^sburg  there  is  a  stone  that  is 
placed  at  what  is  called  the  high-water  mark  of  the 
Confederacy.  But  it  does  not  signify  the  low-water 
mark  of  the  Federal  Union.  Such  a  stone  would  be 
placed  at  Washington,  and  it  would  bear  the  date 
when  the  doctrine  was  proclaimed  that  there  was  no 
ground  on  which  loyal  feet  could  stand  in  a  contest 
against  disloyalty.  Distrust,  gloom  and  despair  were 
fast  settling  down  over  all  the  Northern  coasts. 
The  turning  point  in  the  national  crisis  was  when 
there  echoed  through  the  land,  from  New  Orleans 
to  the  Great  Lakes,  the  ringing  words  from  the 
Treasury  Department,  “If  any  man  attempts  to  haul 
down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot.” 
Then  did  hope  and  pride  and  devotion  begin  to  rise 
above  the  mists  and  fogs  and  miasmas  that  had 
gathered  under  the  sunless  skies  of  a  hopeless  senti¬ 
mental  anarchy.  At  times  hope  quickened,  and  at 
times  it  declined,  but  this  spirit  never  waned  again 
till  the  loyalty  of  the  North  won  back  the  loyalty  of 
the  South  and  brought  all  together  under  one  flag. 

But  this  is  a  feeble  illustration.  Nations  may 
come  upon  the  stage  and  nations  may  perish.  Loyalty 
to  the  king  may  become  loyalty  to  the  common¬ 
wealth;  we  may  obey  Napoleon  today  and  Louis  to¬ 
morrow,  feeling,  perhaps,  a  disappointment  but  no 


Christian  Consciousness 


67 


remorse.  But  through  all  the  changes  that  come  over 
the  race  and  the  fortunes  of  individuals  a  conscious¬ 
ness  of  right  and  wrong  always  abides.  To  ob¬ 
scure  the  distinction  may  seem  to  narrow  the  chasm, 
but  it  only  dims  the  view  we  take  of  the  height  and 
depth  to  which  a  moral  being  may  reach. 

The  Christian  finds  an  answer  to  Job’s  question 
in  forgiveness  and  cleansing  through  the  blood  of 
Christ. 

But  forgiveness  is  essentially  a  supernatural  act. 
Physical  nature  has  no  suggestion  of  this  doctrine. 
From  nature  we  learn  that  results  depend  upon  ac¬ 
tion,  not  belief.  It  seems  to  be  the  most  important 
purpose  of  the  order  of  nature  to  teach  this  lesson. 
That  this  is  absolutely  true  in  the  realm*  of  physical 
nature  cannot  be  doubted  by  any  class  of  thinkers, 
and  if  mental  states  require  a  corresponding  physical 
state,  as  psychologists  maintain,  there  can  be  nothing 
in  the  behavior  of  the  mind  to  suggest  forgiveness. 
On  the  ground  of  natural  law  the  parent  or  teacher 
who  tries  to  make  a  bad  boy  think  he  may  be  for¬ 
given,  in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word,  is  not  only 
teaching  that  which  cannot  be  fundamentally  true, 
but  by  leading  the  child  to  false  beliefs  is  contribut¬ 
ing  to  his  intellectual  and  physical  degeneracy.  Even 
without  such  psychological  reasoning  there  is  the 
natural  feeling  that  such  instruction  is  one  of  the 
most  delicate  duties  of  family,  social  and  civic  or¬ 
ganization,  and  that  it  requires  the  most  careful 
treatment  and  good  judgment  to  avoid  positive  in¬ 
jury  to  the  person  who  is  told  that  he  is  forgiven. 
Logically  followed  no  approved  method  of  education 


68  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


leads  to  the  exercise  of  forgiveness.  Works  on  the 
science  of  education  find  no  place  in  their  scheme  for 
a  treatment  of  that  theme.  It  would  be  difficult, 
perhaps  impossible,  to  find  in  any  scientific  treatise 
on  education  even  a  reference  to  forgiveness  as  a 
means  of  mental  training.  The  science  of  psy¬ 
chology  does  not  mention  it.  No  body  of  civil  law 
or  treatise  on  jurisprudence  has  a  line  of  reasoning 
leading  up  to  it.  In  a  limited  sense  the  teacher  prac¬ 
tices  forgiveness  and  tries  to  impress  pupils  with  the 
importance  of  exercising  it,  but  it  is  a  commercial 
argument  urging  that  they  are  sometimes  in  need  of 
forgiveness  themselves.  The  state  arbitrarily  pro¬ 
vides  for  pardon  that  remits  the  penalty  of  the  law, 
or  some  part  of  it,  in  consideration  of  the  possible 
danger  of  injustice  in  administration,  or  of  an  un¬ 
deserved  degree  of  hardship,  but  forgiveness  is  too 
delicate,  elusive  and  sacred  a  principle  to  find  any 
place  in  a  system  of  hard  and  fast  laws  of  any 
humanly  devised  science.  Apparently,  as  by  common 
consent,  only  theology,  the  science  of  God,  finds  a 
fit  setting  for  it. 

If  physical  law  knows  no>  forgiveness,  and  mental 
science  knows  no  forgiveness  that  can  blot  out  a 
wrong  committed,  and  neither  the  science  of  mental 
development  nor  civil  law  has  a  place  for  it,  where 
does  the  Christian  find  adequate  ground  for  trusting 
in  it?  It  would  seem  that  unless  his  confidence  is 
based  on  something  higher  than  nature  his  faith  is 
unwarranted,  and  he  is  only  leading  a  life  of  im¬ 
aginary  peace  and  security. 

But  what  would  it  mean  to  blot  out  the  word  for- 


Christian  Consciousness 


69 


giveness  from  the  vocabulary  of  the  race?  Let  us 
see  if  one  may  reasonably  look  to  anything  higher 
than  nature  to  find  forgiveness.  Take  an  analogy. 
Two  travelers  call  on  a  man  at  his  home  and  borrow 
his  gun.  They  refuse  to  return  it.  He  has  a  remedy 
in  the  local  court.  But  being  in  possession  of  his 
weapon  they  seize  upon  the  man  himself  and  carry 
him  to  the  coast.  An  appeal  may  be  made  to  the 
state,  which  has  grounds  for  a  criminal  action,  and 
the  man  himself  cannot  compromise  this  right  even 
to  gain  his  liberty.  But  before  the  state  can  act  they 
hurry  him  on  shipboard  and  put  out  to  sea,  to  carry 
their  victim  to  a  slave  market.  Now  an  element  ap¬ 
pears  which,  although  in  it  from  the  beginning,  was 
not  manifest  before,  that  takes  it  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  person  assaulted,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  local 
authorities,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  state,  and  brings 
it  before  the  tribunal  of  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
earth.  There  is  a  law  of  humanity  more  sacred  than 
private  claims  and  higher  than  local  legislation.  No 
private  party,  no  one  of  the  inferior  tribunals  can 
interpose  a  rightful  objection  or  present  a  claim  for 
possession  of  the  offender.  The  case  must  be  tried 
under  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  nations.  Is  it 
not  in  the  nature  of  sin  to  make  the  sinner  amenable 
to  a  higher  tribunal  than  physical  law?  higher  than 
the  judgment  pronounced  by  his  neighbors?  higher 
than  the  authority  of  any  state?  a  tribunal  before 
which  the  conscience  stands  condemned  regardless 
of  all  the  courts  below?  It  matters  not  if  the  slave 
dealers  were  not  familiar  with  the  law  of  nations. 
They  knew  well  enough  the  character  of  their  act. 


70  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


The  wrong-doer  often  finds  his  deeds  do  not  end  with 
his  intended  victim.  Conscience  does  not  limit  the 
review  of  the  case  to  a  single  sufferer  at  his  behest. 
Perhaps  results  are  self-perpetuating,  and  extend  to 
realms  of  which  we  take  little  account.  The  court 
of  last  resort  needs  to  be  high  enough  to  have  juris¬ 
diction  of  the  whole  case.  If  there  is  such  a  court, 
when  we  who  have  guilty  consciences  come  before  it 
we  shall  be  tried  in  accordance  with  its  laws  and 
bear  the  sentence  imposed  by  it.  May  we  not  hope 
that  in  this  court  provision  will  be  found  for  for¬ 
giveness  ? 

To  provide  for  the  forgiveness  of  men  was  the 
controlling  purpose  of  the  Father  in  giving  up  his 
Son,  the  controlling  purpose  of  the  Son  in  coming 
to  the  earth  and  fulfilling  the  law,  and  he  himself 
said  his  blood  was  shed  for  many  for  the  remission 
of  sins.  We  cannot  say  but  it  would  have  been 
possible  for  the  divine  and  human  to  unite  after  a 
human  birth  of  Christ,  but  it  is  just  as  easy  to  be¬ 
lieve  the  gospel  story  of  the  supernatural  birth  as  to 
believe  in  a  divine-human  person  supernaturally  re¬ 
sulting  from  a  union  brought  about  in  the  growing 
child.  But  it  makes  a  world-wide  difference  in 
Christian  consciousness  whether  our  trust  for  for¬ 
giveness  is  based  on  the  promise  and  merit  of  one 
who  is  but  a  unit  in  a  system  where  we  have  not 
been  able  to  find  a  syllable  of  forgiveness  mentioned, 
or  one  who  has  come  down  from  a  higher  realm 
where  forgiveness  may  possibly  be  found.  And  it 
makes  a  difference  whether  the  promise,  the  life  and 
the  death  of  him  for  whose  sake  we  hope  to  be  for- 


Christian  Consciousness 


71 


given  are  the  promise,  the  life  and  the  death  of  a 
merely  human  being,  or  of  a  supernatural  being  com¬ 
ing  to  earth  with  knowledge,  authority  and  power, 
an  advocate  who  knows  the  laws  of  the  realm  to 
which  our  case  may  go. 

Secondly.  We  believe  in  Christ’s  right  to  claim 
our  service.  When  the  young  ruler  asked  how  he 
might  obtain  eternal  life,  and  Jesus  said,  take  up  the 
cross  and  follow  me,  he  did  not  mean  simply  that 
the  young  man  should  follow  on,  go  wherever  he 
went,  and  bear  him  company  with  his  personal  pres¬ 
ence  through  life,  but  he  must  be  prepared  for  the 
extremity  of  sacrifice,  and  follow  his  commands 
though  obedience  should  lead  to  death.  It  meant 
more  than  this.  It  meant  more  than  simply  willing¬ 
ness  to  die  for  him.  What  could  the  expression 
“bear  the  cross”  have  meant  when  used  by  Christ 
before  his  own  crucifixion,  before  he  had  sanctified 
it  in  innocence  with  his  bleeding  hands  and  feet  and 
side?  Yet  he  had  declared  more  than  once  that  it 
Was  a  requisite  for  true  discipleship.  In  the  common 
language  of  the  times,  to  bear  the  cross  meant  to  go 
to  a  felon’s  doom.  It  was  the  sign  of  the  greatest 
criminality  and  the  most  unworthy  of  characters. 
It  was  so  distinct  a  mark  of  vileness  and  criminality 
as  to  make  it  a  fit  expression  to  represent  figuratively 
the  pangs  of  a  guilty  conscience.  Thus  Plutarch 
says,  “Every  malefactor  bears  forth  on  his  body  his 
own  cross,  which  depravity  builds  out  of  itself  upon 
itself  as  a  sort  of  demiurge  of  a  woful  life.”  The 
word  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  been  used  except 
with  this  moral  taint.  What  was  it  to  follow 


72  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


Jesus?  The  follower  of  a  philosophy  is  one  who 
believes  in  his  philosophy.  The  follower  of  Mo¬ 
hammed  is  one  who  seeks  to  establish  his  religion. 
The  follower  of  a  prince  is  one  who  puts  himself 
under  his  command  and  renders  implicit  obedience 
as  he  is  led  forth  to  gain  a  kingdom.  Jesus  required 
obedience  as  a  prince.  To  take  up  the  cross  and  fol¬ 
low  him  was  to  accept  him  and  his  command  as  the 
standard  of  duty  and  righteousness,  though  obedi¬ 
ence  might  lead  to  the  condemnation  of  his  follow¬ 
ers  as  transgressors  against  the  sacred  customs  of  the 
masses  of  men  and  of  men  with  authority  to  punish 
and  put  to  death.  The  cross  which  always  signified 
some  kind  of  base  crime  to  the  Greek  and  Roman, 
must  be  accepted  by  the  followers  of  Jesus  as  the 
badge  of  the  highest  virtue  when  borne  in  obeying  his 
word.  This  word  was  to  be  henceforth  the  test  of  vir¬ 
tuous  conduct.  Peter  recognized  the  change  of 
standards  when  brought  before  the  Sanhedrim  for 
disobeying  its  injunctions,  and  he  answered  the 
charge  with  the  appeal,  “\Vhether  it  be  right  in  the 
sight  of  God  to  harken  unto  you  more  than  unto 
God  judge  ye.” 

Such  is  the  service  which  the  Christian  world  has 
always  believed  it  owes  to  Christ,  and  not  only  is 
the  word  of  Jesus  all  the  sanction  his  followers  re¬ 
quire  for  their  conduct,  but  he  remains  the  personal 
head  of  his  people  and  the  director  of  their  lives.  It 
is  not  a  philosophy  of  life  that  may  be  read  and 
studied,  or  perhaps  evolved  from  reason.  It  is  a 
reasonable  service,  but  such  as  would  never  be 
evolved  in  the  human  mind  by  the  study  of  anything 


Christian  Consciousness 


73 


less  than  the  life  the  character  and  the  teaching  of 
Jesus.  The  service  is  due  and  is  gladly  paid  to  a 
conscious  being  who  regards  his  followers  with  in¬ 
dividual  interest  and  has  claims  upon  them  indi¬ 
vidually,  not  only  for  what  he  has  done  for  them 
but  for  what  he  is  doing  now,  and  for  what  he  will 
continue  to  be  for  them  to  all  eternity. 

Can  it  be  necessary  to  ask  if  it  makes  any  differ¬ 
ence  with  the  Christian’s  view  of  service  whether  or 
not  he  believes  in  the  supernatural  birth  and  resur¬ 
rection  of  Christ?  What  would  become  of  the 
Christian  sense  of  service  due  if  Jesus  was  thought 
of  only  as  a  divinely  inspired  man?  The  Christian’s 
service  is  pledged  to  Christ  personally  for  time  and 
eternity.  To  what  kind  of  a  man  would  any  one 
voluntarily  make  such  a  pledge?  There  is  but  one 
man  and  that  is  the  God-man,  Christ  Jesus,  who  was 
from  the  beginning  and  reigneth  forevermore. 

An  illustration  of  what  service  means  is  related 
by  a  friend  as  these  lines  are  written.  A  hard¬ 
working  man  who  had  recently  lost  his  wife  and  had 
no  family  left,  was  accosted  one  morning  with  the 
question,  “What  are  you  doing  now?”  His  answer 
was,  “Not  much  of  anything.  I  tell  you  what,  I 
have  been  thinking  a  lot  lately,  thinking  hard,  and  I 
have  said  to  myself,  ‘Bill,  whom  are  you  working 
for?’  ”  It  makes  a  world-wide  difference  with  the 
Christian’s  consciousness  which  cannot  be  glossed 
over,  whether  we  are  working  to  carry  out  the  plans 
and  purposes  of  some  one  who  lived  and  died,  as 
other  men  live  and  die,  nearly  two  thousand  years 
ago,  or  of  one  who  was  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of 


74  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


the  God-head  and  who  ever  liveth  to  make  interces¬ 
sion  for  us. 

In  the  third  place  the  Christian  believes  in  a 
future  life  with  Christ.  From  the  nature  of  human 
reason  this  hope  can  only  be  presented  to  the  eye 
of  faith.  We  can  have  no  knowledge  by  experi¬ 
ence.  Yet  to  the  question,  “If  a  man  die  shall  he 
live  again?”  there  has  been  all  but  a  united  chorus 
in  the  affirmative  from  all  human  voices.  In  the 
light  of  what  is  called  nature  the  question  and  an¬ 
swer  present  one  of  the  most  remarkable  phenomena 
in  history.  There  is,  apparently  there  can  be,  noth¬ 
ing  in  experience  of  the  senses  to  suggest  even  the 
thought,  much  less  to  excite  the  hope  of  a  life  after 
death.  To  the  senses  death  means  absolutely  the 
cessation  of  life. 

Yet  the  mass  of  the  world’s  literature  assumes 
that  there  is  a  spirit  world,  and  that  the  soul  of  man 
lives  after  it  leaves  the  body.  The  ancient  Hebrew 
literature  alone  of  all  national  literature  is  reticent. 
If  the  people  assumed  a  future  life  their  literature 
seems  to  have  had  only  the  purpose  of  setting  forth 
the  importance  of  right  living  in  this  world.  But 
in  every  other  literature  death  and  a  life  to  come 
are  made  the  back-ground  of  every  great  picture  of 
the  human  race.  The  literature  of  eastern,  south¬ 
ern  and  central  Asia,  the  stony  volumes  of  Egyptian 
literature;  the  great  epics  of  the  race,  the  tragedies 
of  Greece  and  Rome;  the  philosophies  of  Plato, 
Cicero  and  Plutarch,  the  Scandinavian  Sagas;  po¬ 
etry,  oratory  and  mythology  as  well  as  history,  all 
tell  of  man’s  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  conscious 


Christian  Consciousness 


75 


soul  after  death. 

But  with  all  these  manifestations  of  a  belief  in  a 
future  life  the  faith,  if  it  can  be  called  such,  has  been 
but  a  trembling  hope.  In  how  many  ways  the 
philosophers  and  best  men  of  every  age  have  tried 
to  bolster  up  this  hope  is  a  familiar  story,  and  they 
have  not  tried  to  conceal  the  fact  that  their  reasons 
have  come  far  short  of  a  final  demonstration  even 
to  themselves.  The  one  thing  proved  is  the  natural 
longing  the  soul  has  for  an  assurance  of  immortality 
and  the  dread  of  dropping  into  nothingness.  Belief 
in  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  the  seal  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian’s  hope  of  eternal  life,  to  the  assurance  of  the 
blessedness  of  that  life,  and  to  a  worthy  mission  on 
this  earth.  Socrates  spent  the  whole  of  his  last  day 
with  his  friends  setting  forth  his  reasons  for  believ¬ 
ing  in  immortality  while  waiting  for  the  hemlock 
to  come  with  the  coming  of  darkness  and  then  he  told 
them  he  had  not  been  rehearsing  these  arguments  to 
convince  them  of  immortality,  but  to  convince  him¬ 
self,  for  he  was  going  where  he  would  meet  the 
truth,  and  if  he  was  wrong  he  would  lose  nothing 
since  he  would  know  nothing,  but  if  his  arguments 
were  just  it  would  be  a  great  gain  for  him  to  go  to 
the  other  world  with  the  belief  that  he  was  to  have 
a  future  that  would  complete  the  life  begun  here. 

The  effect  on  Christian  consciousness,  then,  of 
denying  the  eternal  divinity  of  Christ  and  his  super¬ 
natural  birth  and  resurrection,  if  such  unbelief  should 
become  the  settled  and  unquestioning  state  of  the 
so-called  Christian  world,  would  necessarily  be  to 
destroy  all  the  grounds  of  hope  of  forgiveness  of 


76  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


sins,  to  take  away  all  the  stronger  motives  to  a  zeal¬ 
ous  and  virtuous  life,  and  to  destroy  the  founda¬ 
tions  of  faith  in  a  life  to  come. 


CHAPTER  VI 


Atonement  Universal — Forgiveness  Limited 

C  OME  years  ago  the  Bible  Student  and  Teacher 
^  quoted  a  statement  from  a  theological  professor., 
and  has  more  recently  quoted  the  same  again  that 
“Sin  can  not  be  atoned  for,  although  it  may  be  for¬ 
given.”  If  he  had  said  “Sin  can  not  be  forgiven  al¬ 
though  it  may  be  atoned  for,”  it  would  not  have 
seemed  so  unreasonable.  Atonement  does  not  neces¬ 
sarily  imply  acceptance  by  the  wrongdoer  nor  his 
release  from  the  consequences  of  his  wrong.  In  a 
broad  sense  it  is  the  suffering  which  one  person  un¬ 
dergoes  for  the  conduct  of  another. 

Atonement,  according  to  its  etymology,  is  funda¬ 
mental  in  the  constitution  of  nature.  There  is  a 
oneness  of  the  body  such  that  if  one  member  suffers 
the  body  as  a  whole  suffers  with  it.  There  is  a  one¬ 
ness  of  the  ocean  depths  such  that  a  stone  dropped 
upon  the  surface  at  one  place  gives  a  shock  which 
the  whole  ocean  feels.  There  is  such  a  oneness  of 
the  universe  that  every  jar,  material,  mental  or 
moral,  extends  beyond  its  origin  to  the  universe  as  a 
whole.  All  suffer  with  the  one,  each  part  suffers 
with  all. 

I.  It  is  necessary  to  lay  down  this  postulate  in 
order  to  formulate  the  law  that  underlies  the  fact  of 
atonement.  We  may  not  call  it  atonement  until  we 
rise  in  the  scale  of  being  to  conscious  voluntary  per- 

77 


78  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


sonality,  but  the  underlying  fact  that  one  individual¬ 
ity  bears  the  effect  of  another’s  actions  is  found  in 
all  the  universe  so  far  as  we  know  it.  It  is  not  dis¬ 
puted  in  discussions  of  the  material  world.  It  is 
not  doubted  that  there  is  a  correspondence  between 
the  mind  and  the  brain  that  results  in  uniform  rela¬ 
tions  between  the  intellectual  and  the  material  world. 
The  consequences  of  moral  conduct  that  afflict  so¬ 
ciety  are  borne  to  a  traceable  extent  by  tens,  by  hun¬ 
dreds  of  individuals,  or  by  nations.  Whether  there 
can  exist  such  a  unity  between  the  Creator  and  the 
creature  that  the  Creator  can  bear  the  sins  of  the 
creature  or  not,  man’s  reason  may  not  be  able  to 
conclude,  but  if  such  a  unity  is  established  or  does 
exist  the  relationship  would  bear  a  likeness  to  the 
oneness  of  the  universe  that  we  are  familiar  with. 
It  would  be  a  striking  example  of  the  application 
of  a  natural  law  to  the  spiritual  world. 

There  are  also  indications  in  nature  that  the  suf¬ 
fering  of  one  may  be  substituted  for  that  of  another. 
Not  necessarily  must,  but  may.  In  matter  motion 
and  energy  are  transmitted,  and  the  law  of  equal 
action  and  reaction  is  a  case  of  must.  But  in  ac¬ 
tions  that  have  a  moral  quality,  and  in  individuals 
that  have  a  moral  character  we  can  only  say  may. 
Commercial  transactions  have  a  moral  character,  but 
one  person  may  pay  the  debt  of  another  and  have  it 
discharged.  Parents  pay  for  the  evil  conduct  of  way¬ 
ward  children.  The  children  may  not  appreciate  it, 
but  they  enjoy  a  kind  of  immunity  for  which  the 
parents  pay. 

It  is  sometimes  maintained  that  criminals  violate 


Atonement  Universal ,  Forgiveness  Limited  79 


their  moral  natures  to  such  an  extent  that  they  en¬ 
tirely  destroy  the  faculty  of  conscience.  Some 
criminologists  hold  to  this  belief.  Against  it,  how¬ 
ever,  is  the  fact  that  criminals  apparently  the  most 
degraded  are  sometimes  so  overcome  by  the  sense  of 
guilt  as  to  confess  and  voluntarily  offer  themselves 
for  punishment.  And  the  history  of  criminals  con¬ 
victed  by  the  courts  reveals  a  deeper  depth  of  con¬ 
science  than  this.  There  may  be  confession  without 
repentance  or  any  show  of  the  sense  of  guilt.  What 
is  the  motive?  A  criminal  who  can  bear  the  recol¬ 
lection  of  the  sufferings  of  innocent  persons  whom  he 
has  wronged  for  his  own  gain  and  apparently  with¬ 
out  the  least  remorse  at  the  time  or  afterward,  can 
not  so  easily  endure  to  have  an  innocent  person  suf¬ 
fer  for  the  crime  in  his  stead.  A  large  number  of 
cases  of  confession  where  there  had  been  no  sus¬ 
picion  of  guilt  has  recently  been  collected  from  the 
court  records  that  reveal  the  existence  of  conscience 
in  this  lower  stratum  of  human  sensibility  where 
the  criminals  showed  little  or  no  sorrow  for  the 
crimes  themselves.  Five  out  of  eleven  given  in  detail 
were  murder  cases,  and  the  rest  burglary,  forgery, 
perjury  and  theft.  One  confession  was  false  and  one 
appeared  to  be  a  case  of  real  repentance,  but  in  each 
of  the  other  nine,  confession  was  apparently  induced 
solely  by  the  fact  that  guilt  and  punishment  were 
legally  brought  home  to  innocent  persons.  Two  or 
three  cases  may  be  cited  as  examples.  A  young  man 
was  charged  with  killing  his  uncle,  a  banker.  He 
was  defended  by  an  attorney  who  knew  he  was  in¬ 
nocent  and  who  thought  the  defense  an  easy  one. 


8o  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


But  much  to  the  attorney’s  surprise  his  client  was 
convicted.  On  the  announcement  of  the  verdict 
the  attorney’s  face  lost  its  color,  his  eyes  blazed,  and 
he  rose  and  said  to  the  court,  “I  offer  you  the  last 
convincing  proof  of  my  client’s  innocence.  It  was  I 
and  I  alone,  that  killed  that  old  man.”  The  attorney 
was  tried,  convicted  and  condemned  to  death. 

In  another  case  a  woman  was  brutally  murdered 
and  the  murderer  was  tried  and  convicted.  But  so 
strong  was  the  evidence  of  his  innocence  that  the 
police  thought  to  fix  the  guilt  on  two  other  suspected 
persons.  When  the  murderer  heard  of  the  new 
arrests  and  of  his  own  impending  release,  instead  of 
expressing  joy  he  was  much  depressed  till  at  last  he 
called  for  the  clergyman  who  had  attended  him  and 
confessed  his  own  guilt  and  was  formally  tried  and 
condemned  to  death.  His  answer  to  those  who  ask¬ 
ed  the  reason  for  confessing  was  that  while  he  would 
answer  to  heaven  for  the  death  of  the  woman  he 
would  not  have  to  answer  for  the  death  of  these 
two  men. 

In  another  case  after  an  innocent  person  had  been 
declared  guilty  the  real  criminal  confessed  but  the 
judge  refused  to  put  him  on  trial  on  the  ground 
that  the  state  had  convicted  one  man  of  the  crime 
and  had  proved  that  but  one  man  could  have  been 
engaged  in  it.  The  innocent  person  was  given  a 
suspended  sentence  and  the  real  culprit  was  set  free. 

Such  considerations  make  it  too  clear  for  dis¬ 
pute  that  there  is  a  common  law  in  accordance  with 
which  action  and  conduct  are  carried  over  in  their 
results  from  one  individual  to  another,  consciously  or 


Atonement  Universal \  Forgiveness  Limited  8l 


unconsciously,  and  it  is  apparently  true  that  the 
keenest  edged  natural  punishment,  the  reflection  that 
reaches  a  conscience  last  of  all,  is  the  knowledge  that 
an  innocent  person  is  exposed  to  the  punishment  that 
belongs  to  one’s  own  guilt. 

II.  But  the  case  of  forgiveness  differs  from  that 
of  atonement  as  does  its  law.  There  is  a  com¬ 
mercial  sense  in  which  a  limited  forgiveness  may  be 
possible,  but  it  leaves  out  the  more  important  moral 
element.  What  matters  it  that  Agrippina  could 
say  of  her  son  “Let  him  slay  me  if  only  he  can  be 
made  Emperor,”  and  could  overlook  it  when  he 
sought  her  destruction  by  sinking  the  ship  on  board 
of  which  he  had  sent  her  forth !  She  saved  her  life 
for  a  brief  time  but  only  to  suffer  a  more  cruel 
death.  A  pretense  of  forgiveness  gave  her  no  ad¬ 
vantage  and  only  aggravated  the  guilt  of  Nero. 

To  be  complete  forgiveness  must  be  considered 
from  three  points  of  view.  In  the  first  place,  the 
person  pronouncing  the  word  must  have  his  claim. 
To  give  any  force  to  his  word  his  attitude  toward 
the  wrongdoer  or  toward  the  act  must  be  changed. 
In  the  second  place,  all  others  who  have  suffered 
directly  or  indirectly  must  be  satisfied  for  the  wrong 
they  have  suffered  or  forgiveness  could  only  be  par¬ 
tial.  In  the  third  place,  the  reaction  of  the  wrong 
doing  on  the  character  of  the  guilty  person  must  be 
annulled  and  the  character  restored  to  make  forgive¬ 
ness  real  to  him. 

III.  Whence  is  the  word,  I  forgive,  to  be  drawn 
that  can  comprehend  these  three  points  of  view  and 
answer  to  every  claim? 


82  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


i.  In  the  deepest  sense  nature  knows  no  forgive¬ 
ness.  Physical  nature  has  no  suggestion  of.  the  doc¬ 
trine.  Even  in  the  case  of  the  body,  which  is  so  sub¬ 
ordinate  to  the  mind,  the  physical  does  not  yield 
a  tittle  from  the  law  of  persistence.  The  vocabulary 
of  physical  science  has  no  word  for  forgiveness. 

From  physical  nature  We  learn  that  results  de 
pend  upon  action,  not  belief.  It  seems  to  be  the 
most  important  purpose  of  the  order  of  nature  to 
teach  this  lesson.  That  this  law  of  uniformity  holds 
true  in  the  realm  of  physical  nature  cannot  be 
doubted ;  and  in  so  far  as  mental  states  require  cor¬ 
responding  physical  states,  there  can  be  nothing  in 
the  behavior  of  the  mind,  when  considered  funda¬ 
mentally,  to  suggest  forgiveness.  We  must  believe 
that  on  the  ground  of  natural  law  the  parent  or 
teacher  who  tells  a  bad  boy  that  he  may  be  forgiven, 
in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word,  is  not  only  teaching 
that  which  cannot  be  essentially  true,  but  .by  leading 
the  child  to  false  beliefs  he  is  contributing  to  his 
intellectual  and  physical  degeneracy.  Even  without 
psychological  reasoning  there  is  the  natural  feeling 
that  such  instruction  is  one  of  the  most  unceitain  and 
delicate  duties  of  family,  social  and  civic  organiza¬ 
tion,  and  that  to  avoid  injuring  the  person  who  is 
told  he  will  be  forgiven  requires  the  most  careful 

limitations  and  good  judgment. 

2.  The  three-fold  aspect  must  always  be  kept  in 
view.  Improvement  in  the  child  s  own  character 
must  be  considered  the  highest  end ;  and  this  is  not 
subject  to  the  will  of  the  injured  parties.  No  ap¬ 
proved  method  of  education  leads  logically  to  the  ex- 


Atonement  Universal ,  Forgiveness  Limited  83 


erase  of  forgiveness.  Works  on  the  science  of  edu¬ 
cation  have  no  place  in  their  scheme  for  a  treatment 
of  this  theme.  We  would  search  in  vain  to  find  in 
scientific  treatises  on  education  even  a  reference  to 
forgiveness  as  a  means  of  mental  training. 

As  said  in  the  chapter  on  Christian  Consciousness 
the  science  of  psychology  does  not  speak  of  for¬ 
giveness.  It  may  speak  of  law  and  crime,  and  of 
irregular  and  abnormal  states  of  mind,  but  it  has 
no  plea  for  forgiveness.  It  may  recognize  minds 
so  infirm  or  distorted  as  .not  to  be  more  responsible 
than  a  clod  of  earth,  and  say  we  must  not  regard 
their  faults  as  moral.  Injurious  actions  must  be 
overlooked  and  physically  guarded  against.  But 
punishment  and  forgiveness  are  incomprehensible 
terms  in  such  a  case.  The  science  may  even  go  so 
far  as  to  give  volumes  to  the  discussion  of  the  ques¬ 
tion  whether  crime  is  crime  that  ought  to  be  pun¬ 
ished,  or  only  error  that  ought  to  be  instructed,  but 
it  has  no  chapter  on  forgiveness. 

No  body  of  civil  law  treats  of  forgiveness.  No 
treatise  on  jurisprudence  discovers  a  line  of  legal 
reasoning  which  leads  even  to  its  discussion.  Deci¬ 
sions  of  the  courts  base  no  conclusions  on  its  princi¬ 
ples.  It  has  no  principles  which  are  involved  in  the 
laws  which  guard  human  rights. 

Drummond  treats  learnedly,  elaborately  and  for¬ 
cibly  of  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  and 
if  he  could  have  found  in  nature  a  clear  word  of 
forgiveness  we  might  have  expected  him  to  repeat  it. 
But  he  does  not  appear  to  have  met  it  anywhere  in 
nature.  Bishop  Butler,  who,  perhaps,  treated  the 


84  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


analogies  of  religion  to  the  course  of  nature  at  greater 
length  and  with  greater  subtlety  than  any  other 
writer,  and  sought  diligently  for  the  word  with  an 
apparent  predisposition  to  find  it  if  possible, .  con- 
eludes  there  is  nothing  in  nature  to  lead  the  sinner 
to  hope  to  escape  the  consequences  of  his  sins.  The 
most  he  can  say  is,  that  nature,  by  delaying  punish¬ 
ments,  by  rendering  men  willing  to  bear  each  other’s 
burdens  and  otherwise,  shows  a  compassion  for  suf¬ 
fering  such  as  to  forbid  us  to  deny,  through  our 
ignorance,  a  possible  provision  for  forgiveness  for 
the  future  world.  But  he  concludes  with  this  pro¬ 
found  observation:  “Upon  the  whole,  then,  had  the 
laws,  the  general  laws  of  God’s  government,  been 
permitted  to  operate  without  any  interposition  in 
our  behalf,  the  future  punishment,  for  anything  we 
know  to  the  contrary,  or  have  reason  to  think,  must 
inevitably  have  followed,  notwithstanding  anything 
we  could  have  done  to  prevent  it.” 

If  the  teacher  tries  to  impress  the  importance  of 
forgiveness  on  his  pupils,  he  does  it  by  the  use  of  the 
lower  commercial  argument  that  the  pupil  himself 
may  sometimes  need  forgiveness.  If  the  law  provides 
for  the  pardon  of  a  criminal  it  is  distinctly  in  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  possible  danger  of  injustice  in  ad¬ 
ministration,  or  of  an  undeserved  degree  of  hardship 
in  the  enforcement  of  laws  which  at  best  are  im¬ 
perfect.  Forgiveness  is  too  delicate,  elusive  and 
sacred  a  principle  to  find  a  place  in  any  system  of  the 
hard  and  fast  laws  of  any  humanly  devised  science. 
Apparently,  as  by  common  consent,  only  theology, 
the  science  of  God,  finds  a  fit  setting  for  it. 


Atonement  Universal ,  Forgiveness  Limited  85 


2.  To  pronounce  the  word  forgiveness  is  not  real 
forgiveness  unless  the  word  is  with  power.  To  be 
real  it  must  have  the  power  to  reach  and  change  the 
character  reacted  upon  by  the  wrong  doing,  and, 
to  be  adequate,  it  must  have  authority  to  speak  for 
all  who  have  been  wronged.  One  reason  why  the 
word  is  so  loosely  used  is  that  when  the  wrong 
doer  does  not  change  the  injured  party  changes  in 
his  attitude  toward  the  act,  he  lowers  his  standard 
of  right  and  wrong  and  confuses  the  distinctions  of 
right  and  wrong  that  are  inherent  in  morals.  He 
lowers  the  high  moral  ideal  of  the  spiritual  being  to 
a  commercial  basis.  But  this  is  not  forgiveness  in 
any  deep  sense. 

The  principle  of  atonement  is  thus  seen  every- 
where  in  the  development  of  the  universe  in  all  its 
stages  from  mere  atomic  motion  to  the  highest  de¬ 
velopment  of  mental  and  spiritual  life.  It  is  natural. 
But  forgiveness,  that  is  real  and  complete  forgive¬ 
ness,  if  such  there  be,  must  be  supernatural. 

Sin  is  alien  to  the  perfect  order  of  the  universe. 
Forgiveness  to  be  effective  must  have  its  source  in  a 
higher  realm. 

3.  If  one  finds  fault  with  the  natural  conditions 
that  render  it  necessary  for  the  innocent  to  suffer 
with  the  guilty,  let  him  also  consider  the  advan¬ 
tages  that  depend  upon  these  same  conditions.  Our 
happiness  and  our  misery  are  inseparably  bound  up 
in  the  community  of  interest  that  makes  the  unity 
of  the  human  race  an  illustrious  example  of  creative 
wisdom  and  goodness. 

So  uncontrollable  is  the  desire  for  companion- 


86  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


4 

ship,  that,  although  we  know  what  a  mixture  of 
fortune  and  destiny  is  involved  in  such  a  partnership, 
solitary  confinement  is  reckoned  the  severest  punish¬ 
ment  of  prison  discipline.  Monks  who  have  sought 
solitude  have  thought  to  exchange  the  fellowship  of 
men  for  a  closer  fellowship  with  the  Heavenly 
Father.  For  one  to  wish  to  be  free  from  all  the 
heritage  that  comes  from  human  relationship  is  to 
wish  he  had  not  been  born.  Even  the  most  daring 
fiction  has  never  tried  to  portray  such  an  existence. 
When  Robinson  Crusoe  is  cast  upon  a  desert  island 
he  counts  it  among  the  mercies  for  which  he  should 
be  thankful  that  the  same  ship  that  brought  him  to 
his  miserable  destination  and  foundered  on  the  beach 
brought  in  it  also  many  products  of  other  hands 
than  his,  which  he  was  able  to  secure  and  which  were 
very  useful  to  him.  He  said  in  particular:  “What 
should  I  have  done  without  a  gun,  without  ammuni¬ 
tion,  without  any  tools  to  make  anything,  or  to  work 
with,  without  clothes,  bedding,  a  tent,  or  any  manner 
of  covering.”  Further  than  this  he  brought  with 
him  an  understanding  gained  from  association  with 
others  by  which  he  reflected  he  would  be  able  to 
provide  other  tools  when  those  he  had  were  gone. 
He  thought  his  lot  far  from  a  hopeless  one,  especial¬ 
ly  as  he  had  hope  still  of  deliverance  from  his  island 
exile. 

Perhaps  next  to  self  preservation,  companionship 
is  the  most  deeply  rooted  instinct  of  animal  life. 
The  few  persons  who  have  been  lost  in  childhood 
and  found  in  advanced  age  after  having  lived  many 
years  entirely  separated  from  human  society  have 


Atonement  Universal Forgiveness  Limited  87 


consorted  with  wild  beasts  and  adapted  themselevs 
as  far  as  possible  to  their  ways  and  modes  of  liv¬ 
ing.  From  such  comradeship,  enforced  by  the  neces¬ 
sities  of  nature,  down  through  all  grades  of  relation¬ 
ship  and  dependence  to  such  as  have  only  a  fanciful 
value,  men  seek  to  gratify  their  social  instinct.  There 
are  few  who  do  not  take  pleasure  in  tracing  back 
their  lineage  to  some  illustrious  name,  even  when 
no  good  comes  from  it  beyond  the  gratification  of  a 
pleasing  fancy. 

It  would  be  futile  to  attempt  to  enumerate  even 
the  most  important  of  the  benefits  that  depend  upon 
the  same  conditions  of  unity  as  those  that  bring  a 
train  of  suffering  on  all  the  associated  parts  from 
the  wrongs  done  by  any  one  part.  All  the  advan¬ 
tages  of  civilization  come  to  us  because  of  those 
very  conditions  that  are  essential  to  the  unity  of  the 
race. 

As  Bishop  Butler  has  remarked,  the  course  of 
nature  had  so  many  evidences  of  a  compassionate 
design,  medicine  supplied  for  disease,  help  awaiting 
the  day  of  trouble,  the  fortunate  standing  ready  to 
aid  the  unfortunate,  knowledge  waiting  on  ignorance, 
the  well  caring  for  the  sick,  the  strong  carrying  the 
weak,  the  righteous  seeking  to  save  the  sinful  from 
their  sins,  that  the  thought  is  forced  upon  the  mind 
of  the  least  considerate  that  the  author  of  this 
course  of  nature  may  be  looking  with  compassion 
on  his  suffering,  sinful  creatures. 

III.  This  word  compassion,  while  it  does  not 
mean  forgiveness,  does  mean  atonement,  suffering 
together  with.  And  what  an  atonement  it  is!  The 


88  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


Creator  suffering  for  the  sins  of  his  creatures.  This 
brings  us  to1  the  Third.  Essential  of  Complete  For 
giveness.  Suppose  we  turn  aside  a  moment,  now, 
from  the  contemplation  of  human  relationships  and 
companionship  with  nature,  and  look  up  to  see  the 
relationship  this  implies  between  us  and  our  Maker. 
We  behold  the  Creator  of  the  Universe  suffering 
for  every  sin  we  commit,  for  every  mistake  we  make, 
for  every  sorrow  we  bear,  the  Son  of  God  bearing 
for  us  all  the  penalties  due  to  our  transgressions,  and 
the  Father,  Son  and  Spirit  ever  yearning  to  manifest 
such  a  living  unity  with  us.  Is  it  not  possible  that 
our  hearts  will  be  affected  to  repentance  by  the 
sight  of  such  an  innocent  one  suffering  for  the 
wrongs  which  we  have  done,  and  be  changed  in  our 
entire  attitude  toward  the  righteousness  of  God? 
If  then  the  Father  also  offers  to  forgive  us  our  sins 
for  the  sake  of  his  Son,  and  if  he  is  able  and  willing 
to  satisfy  all  the  innocent  who  have  suffered  from 
our  wrong  doing,  our  own  change  from  the  love  of 
sin  to  the  love  of  holiness  will  add  the  last  link  in 
the  three-fold  requirement  for  a  true,  just  and  com¬ 
plete  forgiveness.  Such  forgiveness  bears  the  seal 
of  the  supernatural. 


CHAPTER  VII 


Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to 

Tests 

T  T  was  said  in  the  second  chapter  that  an  idea 
A  might  arise  in  the  mind  transcending  experience 
and  yet  be  properly  subject  to  the  test  of  experience. 
An  abstract  notion  like  hardness  and  notions  in  gen¬ 
eral  which  are  represented  by  common  nouns,  as 
man,  temple,  bird,  are  such  ideas.  No  one  of  the 
objects  represents  the  idea  completely  and  yet  the 
idea  must  come  within  the  range  of  a  practical  ex¬ 
perience  of  the  individuals  of  the  class.  Experi¬ 
ence  is  a  standard  for  the  judgment.  But  ideas  of 
perfection  in  any  object  or  course  of  conduct  have 
no  such  standards,  for  our  senses  and  powers  of  ob¬ 
servation  and  inference,  never  reach  perfection.  The 
idea  is  itself  the  standard  or  pattern,  and  this  is  the 
test  of  perfection  for  experience.  The  idea  of  the 
circle  or  the  square  is  the  test  of  perfection  for  the 
figure  drawn.  There  are  other  ideas  in  whose  per¬ 
fection  we  may  believe,  although  we  may  not  have 
reached  them,  even  in  thought,  more  than  approxi¬ 
mately.  For  example  it  is  required  that  courts  shall 
be  guided  by  the  law  in  giving  their  judgments,  and 
legislatures  should  be  guided  by  the  principles  of 
justice  in  making  laws.  The  idea  of  justice  is  the 
ultimate  standard  both  for  the  legislature  and  for 
courts.  No  one  has  ever  arrived  at  a  perfect  con- 

89 


90  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


ception  of  justice  from  the  tests  that  have  been  made, 
but  we  may  correct  false  notions,  and  develop  an  ap¬ 
proximately  correct  conception  for  practical  pur¬ 
poses.  The  idea  is  higher  than  the  individual  expe¬ 
rience.  But  the  human  idea  must  be  subjected  to 
experience  repeatedly,  or  both  the  legislature  and  the 
courts  will  go  wrong. 

With  our  willingness  to  subject  all  other  knowl¬ 
edge  to  earthly  tests  it  may  be  fairly  asked  if  our 
ideas  of  the  spiritual  life,  to  the  conception  of  which 
progress  on  the  earth  has  led,  may  also  be  submitted 
to  earthly  tests.  The  tests  must  fairly  meet  two 
questions,  First,  is  there  an  idea  of  a  spiritual  life  so 
different  from  the  nature  which  preceded  it  on  earth 
as  to  require  to  be  called  supernatural  with  reference 
to  that  nature?  Secondly,  has  such  an  order  of 
spiritual  beings  begun  to  be  on  the  earth? 

For  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  the  word  nature, 
unless  limited,  or  meaning  character,  may  be  under¬ 
stood  to  include  all  that  is  included  under  purely 
material,  vegetable,  animal  and  strictly  human  char¬ 
acteristics.  The  first  question,  then,  is,  have  we  an 
idea  of  a  spiritual  life  that  is  supernatural  with  ref¬ 
erence  to  these?  While  the  answer  is  subject  to  an 
earthly  test,  this  is  not  of  necessity  a  test  of  the  per¬ 
fection  of  the  idea.  Mathematical  ideas  may  be 
tested  by  imperfect  illustrations,  but  if  they  are  found 
to  be  clear  they  will  be  absolute  and  perfect,  at 
least  as  perfect  as  any  conception  we  ever  have.  Such 
are  the  developed  ideas  of  number  and  of  geometrical 
figures.  These  ideas  are  so  perfect  that  we  do  not 
conceive  it  possible  for  them  to  be  varied.  But  the 


Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to  Tests  91 


principles  of  justice,  while  used  as  patterns  for  laws 
and  capable  of  being  tested  by  them,  do  not  come 
into  conscious  perfection  in  the  human  mind.  There¬ 
fore,  although  we  do  not  find  a  perfect  conception  of 
a  perfect  spiritual  life,  subject  to  earthly  tests,  it  may 
be  possible  to  find  a  conception  with  approximations 
to  perfection,  similar  to  such  ideas  as  that  of  justice 
on  which  the  whole  world  has  been  satisfied  to  base 
its  most  important  actions  and  decisions.  The  earth 
is  still  performing  motherly  functions,  and  the 
spiritual  idea  as  well  as  the  spiritual  life  is  yet  to  be 
developed  by  earthly  experience  into  fuller  con¬ 
sciousness. 

We  found  in  the  discussion  of  Christian  conscious¬ 
ness  a  confident  expectation  of  immortality.  The 
idea  is  found  among  all  peoples  who  have  any  con¬ 
siderable  power  of  abstraction,  perhaps  in  a  low 
form  even  among  the  lowest.  It  becomes  more  and 
more  purified  from  sordid  considerations  as  we  rise 
in  the  scale  of  intelligence,  and  when  Socrates  tells 
his  friends  they  may  bury  him  where  they  please,  if 
they  can  catch  him  when  he  expires  perhaps  his 
mind  grasps  something  of  the  supernatural.  He 
thinks  of  himself  as  a  soul  possessed  of  thoughts  and 
feelings  not  gathered  from  the  earth,  and  yet  only 
developed  by  contact  with  the  things  of  the  earth.  It 
therefore  depends  upon  the  body  only  for  its  devel¬ 
opment,  not  for  its  being.  It  can  continue  to  exist 
without  the  body.  To  this  conception  of  the  con¬ 
tinued  existence  of  the  soul  after  death  there  is  to 
be  added  the  idea  of  a  renovated  nature,  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  which  is  not  intelligence  but  love,  love  first 


92 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


to  God  and  then  love  to  our  fellow-men.  This  form 
of  the  idea  was  clearly  brought  out  by  Christ  when 
asked  by  the  scribe  to  name  the  first  commandment 
of  the  law.  The  answer  has  many  points  of  deep 
interest  to  us.  In  the  first  place  the  Jews  had  inter¬ 
preted  the  law  as  ceremonial  and  as  simply  a  guide 
to  behavior.  Christ  interprets  it  as  spiritual.  It  is 
a  test  of  character.  Secondly  the  command  re¬ 
quired,  first  of  all,  a  right  spiritual  attitude  toward 
the  one  God,  and  this  consisted  of  loving  him  with 
all  the  heart,  soul,  mind  and  strength.  The  whole 
being  should  be  consecrated  to  the  love  of  God.  In 
the  third  place,  although  the  question  had  been  fully 
answered,  Christ  would  not  leave  it  there,  but  re¬ 
quired  an  earthly  test,  love  to  one’s  neighbor.  Love 
to  God  could  not  stand  alone  in  the  human  soul. 
Fourthly  he  made  neighborliness  spiritual,  not  for¬ 
mal.  It  is  the  man  who  embraces  the  opportunity 
to  help  a  needy  fellow  man,  whether  of  the  same 
tribe  and  country  or  not,  who  could  claim  the  neigh¬ 
borly  relationship.  Fifthly,  when  the  scribe  recog¬ 
nized  the  truth  of  the  penetrating  answer,  when  he 
showed  his  appreciation  of  the  spiritual  dement  of 
the  law,  and  the  idea  broke  upon  his  mind,  Christ 
said,  Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God. 
To  have  so  much  of  a  spiritual  insight,  and  to  pro¬ 
claim  it  in  the  presence  of  those  who  had  come  with 
him  to  scoff,  was  evidence  of  being  near  the  spiritual 
kingdom.  It  is  no  wonder  that  after  this  bewilder¬ 
ing  revelation  and  its  astonishing  effect  on  the  law¬ 
yer  representative  of  the  confederate  party,  no  man 
dared  ask  any  more  questions. 


Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to  Tests  93 


Perhaps  nowhere  is  the  spiritual  character  of  the 
Christian  life  set  forth  more  strikingly  than  in  the 
second  great  commandment.  Much  has  been  said 
and  written  on  the  Golden  Rule.  Much  pains  have 
been  taken  to  show  the  superiority  of  its  affirmative 
requirements  over  the  prohibitive  form  given  by  Con¬ 
fucius.  Perhaps  there  is  nothing  strained  in  this 
comparison.  But  at  best  it  is  taken  only  as  a  rule, 
and  whether  inhibitive  or  mandatory  in  form  its  pro¬ 
found  value  lies  not  in  what  it  directs  to  do  or  not 
to  do,  but  in  the  spirit  which  is  implied.  Is  it  a  spirit 
of  equal  justice  or  a  spirit  of  adequate  love?  Christ 
gives  it  in  this  second  commandment  as  the  spirit 
of  adequate  love.  If  a  man  has  this  all  the  rest  will 
follow,  as  a  stream  flows  from  its  fountain.  Did 
such  love  possess  the  heart  there  were  no  need  of  the 
Golden  Rule.  We  never  stop  to  ask  if  we  love  our¬ 
selves  well  enough  to  do  this  or  that  for  our  hap¬ 
piness,  why  should  there  be  such  a  question  about  our 
neighbor,  but  that  love  is  deficient  ?  Much  has  been 
written  in  recent  years  on  the  subject  of  egoism  and 
altruism.  The  love  required  would  abolish  the  dis¬ 
tinction  made.  But  whence  comes  this  love  to  God 
and  man?  A  sense  of  justice  grows,  but  to  make 
God  and  man  one  with  ourselves  in  love  is  not  of 
earth.  Buddhism  may  look  to  a  kind  of  unity  by 
negations,  but  perfect  love  is  the  sum  of  all  righteous 
activities  of  the  most  profoundly  developed  life,  and 
it  has  little  warrant  in  thought  and  no  warrant  in 
hope  aside  from  the  immortality  brought  to  light  in 
the  revelation  of  Christ. 

Our  earthly  life  furnishes  sufficient  material  for 


94  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


the  development  and  growth  of  the  spiritual  life, 
and  we  may  look  to  experience  for  a  test  of  its  re¬ 
ality.  This  test  now  must  be  a  test  of  a  life  de¬ 
veloped  by  the  exercise  of  love  to  God  and  man.  In 
considering  Christian  consciousness  we  found  that 
a  belief  in  the  supernatural  birth  and  resurrection 
of  Christ  furnished  an  object  of  love  and  service 
which  meets  this  requirement  to  its  fullest  extent. 
In  the  love  and  service  of  Christ  as  God  and  man 
we  fulfill  in  our  measure  both  the  first  and  the  second 
commandment.  But  in  his  teaching  Christ  made  it 
clear  beyond  a  doubt  that  service  to  him  on  earth 
is  to  be  found  in  fulfilling  the  mission  he  gave  to  his 
people  to  serve  mankind.  This  makes  the  test  a 
very  practical  one,  and  one  that,  it  seems,  ought  to 
be  easily  recognized.  But  a  test  requires  proper  con¬ 
ditions  to  make  it  satisfactory,  and  there  are  so  many 
elements  that  easily  combine  with  the  manifestations 
of  a  spiritual  life,  that  it  is  difficult  for  the  observer 
to  distinguish  the  true  from  the  seeming. 

But  there  is  a  recognition  among  men  of  the  be¬ 
havior  due  from  a  spiritual  life.  With  all  his  faults, 
wherever  the  truths  of  the  gospel  are  known,  the 
world  has  not  been  slow  to  recognize  some  conduct 
as  becoming  a  Christian  and  some  as  unchristian. 
The  unanimity  of  opinion  is  too  great  to  allow  the 
supposition  that  the  difference  depends  altogether  on 
the  point  of  view  of  the  observer,  and  not  at  all  on 
the  thing  itself.  Like  other  tests  the  observer  must 
have  a  developed  power  of  observation  for  the  thing 
he  is  trying  to  determine,  but  the  civilized  world 
has  not  agreed  on  the  recognition  of  a  certain  thing 


Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to  Tests  95 


as  Christianity  when  there  is  nothing  to  it.  It  is 
true  that  one  cannot  read  what  is  going  on  in  the 
mind  of  his  companion,  much  less  the  motives  that 
sway  his  heart,  except  from  his  conduct  which  may 
he  misleading,  but  it  cannot  be  that  Francis  Xavier, 
Pere  Marquette,  William  Carey,  David  Livingston, 
and  multitudes  of  other  men  in  the  humbler  walks  of 
life  in  every  century  of  the  Christian  era,  could  we 
search  them  out,  would  seem  to  us  to  have  lived  hol¬ 
low  lives.  The  idea  of  the  spiritual  life  which  we 
have  found  to  exist  has  its  counterpart  in  the  actual 
spiritual  life  of  men. 

We  do  not  read  into  the  words  of  Christ  what  is 
not  there,  we  do  not  read  into  the  thoughts  of  the 
noblest  and  most  aspiring  men  who  have  ever  lived 
what  is  not  there,  when  we  see  unfolding  signs  of  a 
spiritual  life  that  is  not  of  earth,  but  which  is  from 
above.  We  simply  open  our  eyes  to  all  that  is  pass¬ 
ing  before  them.  When  Daniel  prayed  in  his  room 
his  windows  were  open  toward  Jerusalem,  not  for 
earthly  vision,  but  because  his  heavenly  sight  would 
be  helped  by  the  earthly.  It  reminded  him  of  all  his 
God  had  done  for  his  people,  and  he  prayed  for 
future  help  with  his  mind  filled  with  the  thoughts 
thus  stirred  in  memory.  They  came  to  him  afresh 
whenever  he  looked  toward  Jerusalem,  and  his 
spiritual  eyes  were  open  to  catch  the  more  easily 
the  vision  of  a  glory  yet  to  be.  The  earthly  life  fur¬ 
nishes  the  nourishment  needed  to  develop  both  the 
spiritual  idea,  and  the  spiritual  life ;  but  this  would 
only  be  possible  to  a  being  in  whom  the  germs  of 
that  life  had  first  been  planted. 


g6  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


We  found  also  in  Christian  consciousness  a  sense 
of  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  This  is  not  essential  to 
the  idea  of  a  spiritual  life,  but  it  is  essential  to  the 
beginning  of  a  spiritual  life  in  man.  In  the  material 
world  we  read  the  law  of  equality  between  action 
and  reaction.  We  are  likely  to  carry  this  law 
through  all  the  orders  of  nature  which  we  have 
found,  and  think  that  nature,  of  whatever  kind,  will 
thus  take  care  of  all  her  so-called  faults.  But  when 
life  sets  free  the  forces  that  cause  the  seed  to  grow, 
what  is  the  reaction  of  the  growing  seed  upon  the 
developing  life?  The  life  activity  is  not  checked, 
but  it  expands  and  grows  with  the  growing  tree. 
When  the  will  changes  the  equilibrium  of  the  forces 
of  the  nervous  system,  and  causes  the  arm  to  rise, 
what  is  the  reaction  upon  the  will?  It  is  strength¬ 
ened  by  every  successful  effort,  and  weakened  when 
there  is  no  result.  When  a  moral  act  is  performed 
the  moral  character  is  strengthened,  for  good  or  for 
evil,  according  to  the  act.  Thus  reaction  in  the 
higher  forms  or  realms  of  nature  tend  to  increase  in¬ 
stead  of  exhausting  power.  There  may  be  trans¬ 
formation  of  the  forms  of  force  in  the  lower  nature 
at  the  same  time,  but,  in  the  higher  realm,  activity 
increases  the  power  to  act. 

But  there  is  also  another  result  coming  back  upon 
the  actor.  The  consequences  that  fall  upon  other 
things  come  back  upon  the  actor  for  good  or  evil, 
and  the  expectation  of  this  constitutes  the  motive 
for  action.  Perhaps  reaction  of  the  first  kind  may 
furnish  a  law  as  constant  as  the  law  of  reaction  in 
matter,  but  it  is  not  the  same  law.  With  the  second 


Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to  Tests  97 


form  of  reaction  there  seem  many  contingencies  be¬ 
yond  the  power  of  man  to  calculate  as  results  with 
certainty.  Men  in  business  take  their  chances.  The 
greatest  of  generals  runs  his  risks.  The  farmer 
plows  and  sows  but  cannot  forecast  the  harvest. 
We  do  not  know  whether  the  seed  we  sow  will 
grow  or  not,  and  we  are  ever  working  on  probabili¬ 
ties.  In  the  realm  of  the  moral  world  nature  is 
prolific  of  contingencies,  and  reveals  no  hope  of  the 
future  but  a  mixed  state  with  mixed  reactions  of 
moral  character  with  the  contingent  reactions  quite 
unknown.  Mankind  thus  looks  forward  to  the 
future  after  death  as  a  leap  in  the  dark.  But  the 
Christian  believes  that  a  spiritual  life  of  love,  com¬ 
ing  from  a  higher  source,  may  replace  the  natural 
reactions  together  with  the  forgiveness  of  sins  that 
are  past,  and  that  the  contingent  reactions  may  be 
confidently  trusted  to  the  love  of  God.  That  this 
state  of  the  heart  is  a  reality  in  the  world  is  attested 
by  many  witnesses. 

There  are  freaks  in  the  world.  There  are  freaks 
in  the  vegetable  world,  freaks  of  animal  growth, 
freaks  of  mental  and  moral  growth.  Is  the  spiritual 
man  a  freak  among  men  ?  The  boy  who  tries  to  live 
a  spiritual  life  among  a  set  of  vicious  boys  seems  to 
them  a  freak.  Is  he  ?  The  entire  class  of  spiritually 
minded  men  who  look  for  a  better  country,  even  a 
heavenly,  appear  to  be  considered  by  some  men  of 
scientific  attainments  as  but  freaks,  men  with  a  part 
of  their  natures  abnormally  developed,  or  with  some 
part  wanting.  From  the  materialistic  point  of  view 
I  do  not  know  how  it  could  be  otherwise.  The 


98  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


Christian  does  not  seem  to  fit  in  with  the  orderly 
course  of  nature.  Her  arrangements  do  not  seem 
to  have  been  made  for  him.  What  he  calls  duty  and 
success  and  failure  are  not  subject  to  the  same  stand¬ 
ards  of  judgment  as  those  adopted  by  large  masses 
of  men,  and  to  them  they  have  the  characteristic 
marks  of  freaks.  The  world  in  which  they  live  is 
an  orderly  arrangement,  and  our  test  must  answer 
the  question  whether  the  class  of  spiritually  minded 
men — for  we  must  certainly  recognize  such  a  class, 
whatever  their  spirituality  may  mean — are  really 
freaks  in  nature,  or  whether  they  constitute  a  super¬ 
natural  order  above  the  order  of  mere  intelligence. 

In  the  class  is  one,  at  least,  so  far  above  nature 
that  he  has  been  the  center  of  the  world’s  thoughts 
as  no  other  man  has  been,  his  words  have  had  a  con¬ 
trolling  influence  which  no  other  words  have  had, 
and  his  life  was  so  spotless  and  forceful  that  he 
stands  above  all  possible  estimate  of  historian  or 
philosopher.  Yet  he  was  so  perfect  and  harmonious 
in  the  development  of  all  his  powers,  his  mental, 
moral,  and  his  spiritual  attitudes,  that  no  one  ven¬ 
tures  to  call  him  a  freak  of  nature.  He  understood 
and  revealed  the  mysterious,  but  he  was  not  mysti¬ 
cal.  He  saw  into  the  heart  of  things  that  were  about 
him,  whether  the  heart  of  man  or  the  inner  con¬ 
stitution  and  purpose  of  lower  nature.  He  did  not 
carry  that  far-away  look  of  the  Wizard  of  Lochiel’s 
Warning  when  he  explained 

“  ’Tis  the  sunset  of  life  gives  me  mystical  lore, 

And  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before.” 


Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to  Tests  99 


He  was  a  prophet  but  he  did  not  mutter  as  did  the 
priestesses  of  other  nations.  He  told  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  but  he  taught  that  it  was  at  hand.  He 
always  taught  his  disciples  to  look  for  the  highest 
things  in  things  that  were  present,  even  saying  “He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.”  He  spent 
his  life  in  doing  good  as  no  other  life  has  been  spent. 
His  teaching  was  spiritual  beyond  the  deepest  pene¬ 
tration  of  any  other  philosophy.  Purity  and  in¬ 
nocence  are  not  the  words  with  which  to  characterize 
him,  for  his  sinlessness  rose  to  the  height  of  holiness. 
In  the  case  of  all  the  rest  of  the  race  the  fortunes  of 
one  man  are  so  linked  with  those  of  others  that  every 
one  is  involved  in  some  way  with  the  good  and  evil 
deeds  of  a  whole  community.  Every  one  feels  a 
responsibility  for  the  prevention  of  crime,  not  only 
because  he  suffers  from  its  evils,  but  he  guiltily  shares 
temporary  benefit  from  its  iniquitous  gains.  It  is 
impossible  to  draw  a  line  and  say  where  one’s  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  evil  ends  when  dealing  with  avarici¬ 
ous  and  unscrupulous  men.  Everything  we  buy  or 
sell  is  tainted.  The  responsibility  is  divided.  But 
Jesus,  man  though  he  was,  was  never  compromised 
by  his  associations.  We  never  find  him  in  such 
partnership  that  he  shares  a  guilt  with  others.  We 
never  find  him  using  falsehood  or  deceit,  or  follow¬ 
ing  crooked  ways  to  escape  from  a  situation,  as  did 
Abraham,  Rahab,  David,  and  perhaps  we  might 
say  every  son  of  Adam,  boy  or  man,  who  has  come 
to  years  of  responsibility.  He  was  faithful  unto 
death.  He  was  from  heaven  but  he  was  sent  into 
the  world,  born  of  a  woman  and  added  to  the  nature 


ioo  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


that  had  gone  before  as  a  fact  for  all  the  future. 

Here  we  have  a  beginning,  at  least,  which  answers 
all  the  purposes  of  our  test.  It  was  his  purpose  in 
coming  into  the  world  to  redeem  sinful  men  and  re¬ 
new  their  sinful  natures,  giving  them  power  to  con¬ 
form  to  his  spiritual  nature,  and  to  become  sons  of 
God.  Can  the  test  be  so  applied  as  to  make  it  seem 
reasonable  to  say  there  is  an  order  of  spiritual  be¬ 
ings  on  this  earth,  superior  in  some  essential  thing 
to  anything  which  nature  has  produced,  or  appar¬ 
ently  can  produce,  outside  the  descent  of  this  divinely 
regenerated  line? 

Here  the  imperfect  conditions  of  the  test  must 
be  accepted  as  explaining  some  of  the  imperfections 
of  the  results.  The  test  is  not  only  under  conditions 
of  a  weak  will,  unable  to  resist  strong  temptation, 
but  under  conditions  of  ignorance,  and  imperfect 
moral  vision.  It  is  not  a  question  whether  every 
renewed  man,  or  every  man  who  professes  to  have 
been  renewed,  is  strong  enough  to  stand  upright  un¬ 
der  all  circumstances.  Man  is  still  under  earthly 
as  well  as  heavenly  care  and  on  the  earth’s  nourish¬ 
ment  the  spiritual  life  is  to  be  developed.  The  earth 
places  poisons  and  sickening  draughts  within  reach 
of  her  children,  as  well  as  food.  I  pray  not  that 
thou  shouldest  take  them  out  of  the  world,  said  the 
Master.  They  must  be  developed  and  strengthened 
in  every  part  of  their  nature  by  trial,  and  the  condi¬ 
tions  of  the  earthly  life  are  adapted  to  meet  this 
need.  The  question  is  rather  whether  the  Christian 
has  spiritual  aspirations  which  reveal  in  some  degree 
his  real  love  for  his  God  and  his  fellow  men; 


Claims  for  the  Supernatural  Subject  to  Tests  ioi 


whether  spiritual  thoughts  possess  his  mind,  and 
spiritual  associations  attract  his  soul;  whether  he  is 
preparing  to  fit  in  with  perfect  spiritual  surroundings. 
Harsh  as  the  world  is  in  its  judgments,  the  number 
of  men  is  very  small  in  any  Christian  community 
who  would  not  say  they  have  known  some  persons 
worthy  to  be  numbered  in  the  spiritual  order. 

Christians  have  vied  with  one  another  to  present 
the  glory  and  the  loveliness  of  their  Head  in  story 
and  in  song,  but  those  who  strike  the  highest  notes 
know  best  of  all  how  much  they  fall  below  the  glory 
as  it  is.  The  best  is  but  a  faint  echo  of  the  world- 
creating  Word.  Professor  Jowett  in  speaking  of 
Socrates  realizes  the  wonderful  character  of  the  dia¬ 
logues  written  out  by  Plato,  the  greatness  of  the  man 
who  could  pen  them,  but  he  says  that  could  we  see 
and  hear  the  master  himself,  as  he  was,  instead  of 
listening  to  his  reported  words,  we  should  be  made 
to  know  and  feel  that  the  master  surpassed  the  pupil 
as  much  as  real  conversations  surpass  reports  of  them. 
The  woman  of  Samaria  told  a  wonderful  story  to 
her  countrymen,  and  they  believed  and  went  to  see. 
But  when  they  saw  they  said,  Now  we  believe,  not 
because  of  thy  saying;  for  we  have  seen  him  our¬ 
selves,  and  know  that  this  is  the  Christ  the  Savior 
of  the  world.  The  Christian  thinks  not  to  emulate 
but  to  imitate  the  Master,  as  a  child  its  parent.  It 
should  not  be  thought  so  strange  if  the  first  attempts 
are  full  of  faults.  Wfio  would  say  that  no  progress 
is  made  in  individual  lives,  or  that  the  leavening  in¬ 
fluence  of  Christianity  on  the  world  has  been  less 
marked  than  that  of  science  or  art?  Consider  the 


102  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


patience  that  watched  the  earth  forming  out  of  chaos, 
the  long  preparation  for  the  coming  of  vegetable  life, 
then  animal  life,  then  man.  It  will  take  time  foi 
the  new  order  of  spiritual  beings  to  evolve  a  har¬ 
monious  character  under  earthly  conditions,  but  the 
history  of  nature  is  prophetic  of  a  future  for  a 
spiritual  life  on  earth  which  can  be  realized  only 
when  the  earth  has  fulfilled  all  its  mission  in  pro¬ 
moting  a  true  spiritual  evolution. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


The  Supernatural  Birth  of  Jesus  Not  Out 
of  Harmony  With  Nature 

NE  should  not  enter  upon  this  theme  with  the 
triumphant  feelings  of  a  man  who  knows  that 
he  is  master  of  his  subject,  nor  with  the  confi¬ 
dence  of  a  disciple  who  rests  on  his  teacher’s  ipse  dixit. 
It  is  taken  up  here,  not  to  treat  of  it  as  a  revealed  fact, 
but  to  consider  whether  the  rational  objections  raised 
against  the  Bible  story  are  entitled  to  the  overwhelm¬ 
ing  weight  which  is  sometimes  given  them.  The 
obscurity  which  rests  on  all  connecting  facts  might 
seem  at  first  to  remove  the  subject  from  rational 
discussion.  But  some  things  may,  perhaps,  be  said  to 
remove  an  acknowledged  prejudice  which  exists 
against  accepting  the  story  on  any  testimony.  It  is 
quite  worth  while  to  examine  and  see  if  this  prejudice 
has  a  good  foundation. 

It  is  not  a  little  curious  to  note  how  the  human 
mind,  especially  as  manifest  in  philosophy  and  sci¬ 
ence,  has  concerned  itself  more  with  seeking  the  be¬ 
ginnings  of  things  than  the  ends  to  be  gained.  It 
seeks  for  causes  rather  than  results.  The  thing  of 
importance  to  man  is  to  know  what  results  will  come 
from  present  conditions  and  present  conduct.  But 
how  little  of  scientific  thought  is  given  to  a  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  probabilities  of  the  future  and  the  con¬ 
ditions  that  are  likely  to  grow  out  of  the  present!  As 

103 


104  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


an  isolated  fact,  a  fact  by  itself,  it  is  of  much  more 
consequence  to  the  world  to  know  what  the  supply 
of  fuel  is  to  be  in  the  future,  than  to  know  that  the 
world  was  once  a  molten  mass.  It  is  of  more  con¬ 
sequence  to  me  to  know  what  may  be  learned  about 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  than  to  know  whether 
some  anthropoid  ape  was  in  the  line  of  my  ancestors 
or  not.  It  is  of  greater  importance  to  know  the 
present  as  a  cause  of  the  future  than  as  an  effect 
of  the  past.  Let  the  pure  scientist  take  the  most 
extreme  position  we  can  imagine  and  say,  “Nothing 
can  happen  in  the  future  that  has  not  happened  in 
the  past,  therefore  we  only  need  to  know  the  past  to 
know  all.  In  the  first  place  this  is  pure  assumption, 
carrying  reason  beyond  the  boundaries  of  knowledge ; 
and  in  the  second  place  we  can  know  very  little  of 
the  past,  and  while  weak  on  this  side  of  possible 
knowledge  we  neglect  some  of  the  most  important 
sources  of  knowledge,  for  instance,  the  purpose  of 
the  present. 

This  is  said  not  to  minify  the  value  of  philosophic 
and  scientific  inquiry,  for  it  is  fully  realized  that  but 
for  the  very  work  men  of  scientific  attainments  are 
doing  there  could  be  no  judging  of  the  future  by 
the  past,  and  therefore  no  progress  of  the  race.  But 
the  chain  of  cause  and  effect,  as  we  call  it,  does  not 
end  where  they  leave  it.  Every  fact  is  as  much  con¬ 
nected  with  a  future  as  with  a  past,  and  by  the  same 
tie,  but  philosophy  and  science  look  on  but  one  side 
of  the  truth.  Philosophy  has  been  defined  as  a 
knowledge  of  effects  by  their  causes.  But  in  fact  it 
begins  with  what  is  a  cause  and  only  treats  of  it  as 


Jesus  Not  Out  of  Harmony  With  Nature  105 


an  effect,  whereas  to  know  it  thoroughly  it  must  be 
known  both  as  an  effect  and  a  cause.  If  any  new 
and  valuable  results  are  obtained  by  these  studies 
they  are  only  by-products,  not  purposed  gains.  The 
charge  is  not  new,  but  it  seems  fitting  to  call  atten¬ 
tion  to  it  here,  that  we  may  see  how  inadequate  phil¬ 
osophy  and  science  are  as  they  are  used,  to  open  to 
us  the  whole  meaning  of  life.  We  may  now  under¬ 
stand  how  it  is  that  the  philosophic  mind  is  so  likely 
to  be  content  to  move  in  a  small  circle  of  even  the 
facts  that  may  be  gathered  from  experience,  and  it 
may  be  confidently  affirmed  that  it  is  no  more  im¬ 
portant  or  essential  to  the  perfection  of  knowledge 
to  find  every  link  in  the  development  of  the  past  than 
to  forecast  the  future  as  far  as  possible.  Perhaps  all 
this  would  come  under  a  proper  science  if  enlarged 
to  its  possible  limits,  but  its  sphere  at  present  is 
mainly  confined  to  seeking  after  causes. 

It  is  generally  agreed  among  men  engaged  in 
scientific  investigations  that  no  link  has  been  found 
connecting  mineral  matter  with  sentient  being,  and 
that  several  such  links  are  wanting  to  make  a  scien¬ 
tific  understanding  of  natural  development  complete. 
But  not  all  scientific  writers  accept  this  position. 
Thomas  Davidson  says,  “We  must  regard  the  very 
lowest  forms  of  matter  as,  to  a  certain  extent,  alive 
and  sentient,  unless  we  are  to  attribute  the  in¬ 
troduction  of  life  to  a  miracle,  and  acknowledge  the 
bankruptcy  of  science.”  But  in  all  seriousness  it 
may  be  asked,  “Is  not  science  bound  to  come  to 
bankruptcy  any  way,  if  it  is  held  to  answer  for  be¬ 
ginnings?  Dr.  Davidson  says  that  one  of  the  ele- 


io6  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


ments  of  all  we  know  of  existence  must  be  desire, 
and  that  desire  necessarily  implies  an  object  desired, 
which  he  calls  substantial  feeling.  Thus  the  ele¬ 
ments  of  existence  are  to  him  substantial  feelings  and 
desires.  In  this  arrangement  there  is  shown  an  adap¬ 
tation  of  these  elements  to  one  another,  and  when  we 
get  back  to  them,  there  is  an  insistent  demand  to 
know  whence  this  adaptation,  and  hence  whence  these 
elements  so  adapted.  How  much  worse  is  it  for 
science  to  be  called  bankrupt  in  respect  to  several 
beginnings  than  to  be  allowed  to  go  on  without  pro¬ 
test  to  elemental  feelings  and  desires  capable  of 
evolving  into  suns  and  systems,  into  thought  and  will, 
into  philosophy  and  science,  into  art  and  religion, 
into  myriads  upon  myriads  of  forms  that  affect  the 
senses,  and  then  fail  to  account  for  the  feelings  and 
desires  and  their  adaptations,  bankrupt  at  last?  If 
one  seeks  to  avoid  this  question  by  asking  how  much 
better  off  a  person  is  who  attributes  beginnings  to 
a  personal  Deity,  the  answer  may  be  made  that  the 
rational  finite  mind  does  not  claim  to  be  able  to 
find  out  the  Omnipotent  to  perfection.  It  is  will¬ 
ing  to  confess  to  bankruptcy  in  this,  and  yet  it  does 
not  believe  that  this  is  a  deficiency  which  nullifies 
the  value  of  its  affirmations  in  matters  which  it  is 
adapted  to  understand.  Faith  in  our  senses  needs 
no  apology,  nor  should  reason  seek  excuse  when  it 
comes  to  the  limit  of  its  sphere  of  activity.  Why 
should  it  be  thought  necessary  for  human  science, 
with  powers  of  observation  limited  in  every  direction, 
confined  to  so  small  a  corner  of  the  universe,  and 
restricted  by  physical  conditions,  to  answer  all  the 


Jesus  Not  Out  of  Harmony  With  Nature  107 


questions  which  a  mind  with  powers  transcending 
its  physical  setting  can  ask  about  time  and  eternity 
and  the  infinite  questions  which  we  can  but  ask 
though  we  cannot  answer  them? 

This  earth  which  we  inhabit  is  but  a  grain  of 
sand,  as  it  were,  in  the  physical  universe.  It  seems 
to  have  been  fitted  as  the  home  of  man.  He  has  been 
nestled  in  this  little  nook,  fed  and  nourished  by  what 
the  earth  provides,  given  breath  and  provided  with 
water  and  heat  which  are  held  in  for  him  by  the 
surrounding  atmosphere  and  its  vapors,  and  clothed 
in  beauty  and  comfort  from  the  materials  gathered 
from  the  earth.  He  may  shut  his  eyes  to  the  light  of 
day,  and  dream  that  he  owes  everything  to  his  nest¬ 
ing  place.  But  the  earth  could  not  keep  him  alive, 
it  has  been  calculated,  from  one  new  moon  to  an¬ 
other,  but  for  the  influence  that  comes  from  sur¬ 
rounding  worlds.  Our  light  and  heat  are  but  a 
waste  product  from  the  sun,  and  the  fitting  amount 
is  determined  by  the  path  we  tread  in  our  journey 
around  this  orb.  But  this  path  is  kept  constant  by 
the  attractions  that  come  from  members  of  our  solar 
system.  The  solar  system  has  been  kept  constant 
during  countless  millenniums  by  the  influence  lent  it 
from  worlds  extending  in  every  direction  to  an 
incalculable  distance.  Thus  man  depends  on  the 
influence  of  the  assembled  universe  of  stars  for  the 
continuance  of  his  well-being ;  on  what  for  his  being  ? 

Perhaps  we  have  not  yet  reached  the  limit  of  our 
indebtedness  to  surrounding  worlds.  The  tele¬ 
scope  seems,  at  last,  to  have  reached  the  limit  of  the 
starry  spheres,  in  some  directions,  and  to  have  pierced 


io8  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


to  space  beyond.  It  is  not  a  wild  conjecture  to  sup¬ 
pose  that  at  a  distance  from  this  edge  of  our  uni¬ 
verse,  so  great  that  attraction  upon  the  nearest  and 
the  most  remote  of  the  members  of  our  universe 
would  be  comparatively  the  same,  and  no  force  com¬ 
ing  from  without  would  disturb  the  relations  of  our 
stars  to  one  another,  there  may  lie  another  universe, 
and  that  we  may  multiply  this  till  the  mind  staggers 
under  the  contemplation.  Who  can  tell  what  in¬ 
fluences  may  be  centered  on  our  universe  from  with¬ 
out  if  we  could  not  only  say,  “Other  worlds  than 
ours”  but  “other  universes  than  ours?”  And  all  this 
perhaps,  for  man ! 

Can  we  go  out  at  night  and  look  at  the  starry 
vault,  and  think  of  all  this  our  dependence,  and  the 
law  according  to  which  these  orbs  interact  upon  one 
another  in  mutual  harmony,  and  for  our  good,  and 
then  think  that  only  in  this  little  nest  of  ours  is  there 
a  being  capable  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  a  being 
possessed  of  a  spiritual  life?  Or  can  we  think  that 
this  vast  universe  is  throbbing  with  physical  forces 
for  the  physical  protection  and  development  of  man, 
and  yet  that  nowhere  else  in  space  is  there  a  being 
to  lend  an  influence  for  the  perfection  of  his  spiritual 
nature,  a  nature  to  which  all  other  natures  we  know 
here  are  but  stepping  stones?  Or  can  it  be  that  our 
glances  upward  and  around  upon  the  vast  panorama 
where  we  find  such  a  quickening  for  the  mind  and 
such  a  stimulus  to  our  hopes  of  a  larger  and  freer 
life,  are  but  stolen  glances,  and  that  we  are  to  be 
driven  back  into  ourselves,  and  told  to  be  content 
with  the  station  in  which  we  were  born?  This 


Jesus  Not  Out  of  Harmony  With  Nature  109 


would  indeed  be  shutting  us  up  in  a  very  narrow  and 
oppressive  prison-house,  enslaving  our  higher  natures 
under  our  appetites  and  passions,  and  limiting  them 
to  a  consideration  of  the  necessities  of  egoistic  and 
selfish  surroundings,  instead  of  making  them  masters 
according  to  the  law  of  development  we  have  else¬ 
where  found  to  prevail.  It  cannot  be  that  we  can 
look  up,  but  that  there  is  no  one  who  can  look  down. 
It  cannot  be  that  the  universe  blindly  cares  for  the 
well-being  of  our  physical  natures,  and  that  no  one 
cares  for  the  soul.  The  intelligence  of  the  whole 
race  rebels  at  the  thought.  Shall  we  close  our  eyes 
and  shut  our  hearts  to  all  this  appeal  of  a  larger 
nature  that  takes  in  not  only  all  the  realms  of  space 
but  the  realm  of  a  spiritual  life  as  well? 

But  if  spiritual  harmony  is  possible  and  ever  to  be 
realized,  there  is  an  imperative  demand  for  help 
from  on  high.  How  help  shall  come  is  beyond  the 
wisdom  of  man  to  say.  But  the  need  of  influences 
different  from  those  of  earth  is  beyond  dispute. 

A  brave  band  of  gunners  stand  upon  the  heights 
resisting  charge  after  charge  till  the  ranks  on  either 
side  become  but  skeletons  of  what  they  were,  but  at 
length  the  enemy  show  signs  of  giving  away  and  the 
commander  at  the  guns  orders  one  more  volley;  the 
next  moment  the  soul  of  that  commander,  and  the 
souls  of  many  of  the  enemy,  go  together  to  their 
final  account.  It  was  a  brave  stand  taken  on  the 
heights  that  day,  and  the  place  where  the  brave  and 
patriotic  commander  stood  is  marked  with  a  stone, 
and  his  name  goes  down  in  history,  among  friends 
and  foes,  as  the  name  of  one  of  the  world’s  heroes. 


no 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


But  what  a  story  does  it  tell  for  the  race?  How 
shocking  it  is  to  be  only  able  to  say  of  the  terrible 
carnage  of  war,  “This  is  not  the  worst  of  it.  It  is 
better  so  than  that  the  hordes  of  smaller  and  meaner 
vices  should  breed,  and  swarm,  and  spread,  and  fill 
the  earth  with  a  moral  miasm  in  every  nook  and  cor¬ 
ner  of  civil,  social  and  commercial  life,  because  there 
is  no  one  with  virtue  and  courage  to  stand  against 
them.”  If  in  the  crises  of  the  earth’s  development 
vegetable  life  and  animal  life  have  been  successively 
prepared  for  and  in  due  time  added  to  nature,  shall 
we  not  now  expect  that  from  some  source  a  new 
spiritual  life  will  be  added  for  man  ? 

The  Christian  believes  there  is  a  spiritual  world 
that  is  not  of  earth.  He  believes  that  when  the  will 
yields  complete  and  final  submission  to  the  Master, 
a  new  spiritual  life  is  born  within,  and  there  is  the 
beginning  of  a  new  creature.  The  control  which 
one  person  may  have  over  another  when  the  will  is 
completely  submissive  is  one  of  the  common  observa¬ 
tions  of  the  times.  If  there  is  a  spiritual  world 
around  us  it  is  not  unnatural  to  look  for  a  spiritual 
life  within. 

We  may  go  further  than  this.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  ancient  phenomena  known  by  Plato 
and  the  Evangelists  as  demoniacal  possessions  it  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  by  hypnotism,  and  perhaps 
other  means  of  whose  secret  processes  we  are  ignor¬ 
ant,  the  will  of  one  person  may  control  the  physical 
energies  of  another  whose  will  has  been  surrendered, 
and  science  has  not  yet  been  able  to  set  a  limit  to  the 
forms  in  which  this  power  may  be  exercised.  Who 


Jesus  Not  Out  of  Harmony  With  Nature  hi 


can  set  a  limit  to  what  the  Creator  may  effect,  all 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  nature  that  we 
know,  by  the  use  of  such  a  power?  The  super¬ 
natural  will  be  fitted  to  the  natural.  There  is  a  new 
power  but  old  material.  And  who  shall  say  “The 
earth  for  earthly  beings  only?”  During  his  life 
Jesus  adapted  himself  to  the  laws  of  the  materials 
with  which  he  had  to  do  in  working  his  miracles, 
using  water  to  make  wine,  touching  the  eyes  of  the 
blind,  using  real  fish  and  bread  to  feed  the  multi¬ 
tudes,  and  taking  the  ruler’s  daughter  by  the  hand 
as  he  said  “Arise.” 

When  the  angel  came  to  Mary  announcing  that 
the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  “A  virgin  shall  bear  a  son,” 
was  to  be  fulfilled  through  her,  she  answered  “Be 
it  unto  me  according  to  thy  word.”  Considering 
the  situation  in  which  she  was  placed  these  were, 
perhaps,  the  most  wonderful  words  that  ever  fell 
from  the  lips  of  a  woman.  Though  uttered  under 
the  stress  of  the  deepest  perplexity  and  troubled 
embarrassment,  they  have  a  simplicity  and  directness 
that  are  not  surpassed  in  the  use  of  language.  There 
is  a  self-renunciation  which  would  seem  to  mean  a 
sacrifice,  considered  the  greatest  a  woman  can  be 
asked  to  make.  There  was  a  faith  as  clear  as  the 
vision  of  the  angel  in  whose  presence  she  made  her 
resolve  and  reply.  No  just  conception  of  the  in¬ 
terview  can  be  had  without  the  conviction  that  the 
soul  of  Mary  was  illumined  by  a  presence  not  of 
earth.  “Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord,”  was  the 
signal  of  the  complete  surrender  of  herself  to  the 
service  of  her  God.  If  the  incarnation  took  place 


1 12  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


precisely  as  set  forth  by  the  physician-evangelist  it 
is  not  a  miracle  to  stagger  belief,  but  to  challenge 
wonder  at  the  infinite  condescension  of  the  Son 
of  God.  We  might  imagine  that  if  he  were  to  come 
at  all  he  would  have  come  with  the  display  and 
power  belonging  to  him  in  his  heavenly  abode;  but 
God  did  not  repent  him  of  the  plan  on  which  he  had 
created  the  earth,  and  in  the  evolution  of  that  plan 
all  of  earth’s  resources — her  motherhood  to  its  full¬ 
est  extent — were  to  be  used,  even  in  this  new  and 
astonishing  revelation  of  his  purpose.  We  only 
need  to  rise  to  such  an  intellectual  height  as  to  be 
able  to  get  a  just  perspective  of  all  that  has  been 
done  for  the  race,  and  the  infinite  needs  of  man’s 
sinful  nature  to  realize  that  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  the  way  he  came,  are  not  so  incredible 
as  they  have  been  sometimes  supposed  to  be  but  en¬ 
tirely  in  harmony  with  the  broader  nature  of  which 
we  have  tried  to  gain  a  view.  In  full  accord  with 
this  nature  the  new  spiritual  life  came  with  one  born 
of  a  woman,  who  increased  in  wisdom  and  in  stature, 
fed  and  nourished  according  to  earthly  laws  like 
other  earth-born  sons  of  men. 


CHAPTER  IX 


Supernatural  Deeds  Natural  in  the  Life  of 

Jesus 

J  N  considering  the  subject  of  miracles  in  general 
it  is  of  vital  importance  to  judge  the  opinions  of 
men  in  regard  to  supernatural  phenomena  as  relat¬ 
ed  to  their  conception  of  supernatural  beings.  We  do 
not  need  to  consider  the  origin  of  the  conception 
here  as  it  has  been  considered  elsewhere.  Those  who 
reject  the  idea  of  supernatural  beings  must  deny 
supernatural  phenomena,  in  order  to  be  consistent. 
Those  who  believe  in  many  supernatural  beings  more 
or  less  independent  of  one  another  in  purpose  and  in 
the  exercise  of  power,  may  consistently  believe  in 
supernatural  events  of  varied  and  conflicting  char¬ 
acter.  Those  who  believe  in  a  Supreme  Being  of 
whom  they  conceive  as  the  creator  and  upholder  and 
ruler  of  all  things,  must  believe  in  the  possibility, 
if  not  the  probability,  of  his  manifesting  himself  in 
a  supernatural  way.  If  he  could  manifest  himself  in 
creation  he  could  manifest  himself  in  control.  To 
them  supernatural  phenomena  should  be  no  surprise. 
They  are  in  the  best  possible  position  to  weigh  evi¬ 
dence  for  and  against  any  claims  of  supernatural 
manifestation  without  prejudice.  But  in  every  case 
supernatural  phenomena  must  harmonize  with  con¬ 
ceptions  of  supernatural  beings.  Conscious  of  per¬ 
sonality  and  will  ourselves  we  naturally  have  con- 

113 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


114 


ceptions  of  other  beings  higher  than  physical  nature, 
though  we  may  believe  or  disbelieve  in  them.  Those 
who  believe  in  a  creator  as  exercising  absolute 
sovereignty  in  all  things,  and,  as  working  out  a  plan 
which  they  think  they  can  see,  at  least  in  part,  may 
decline  to  accept  any  event  as  supernatural  that  is 
not  in  harmony  with  his  character  and  with  this 
plan ;  it  must  be  a  manifestation  of  the  being  in  whom 
they  believe.  Those  who  believe  there  are  other  su¬ 
pernatural  beings  whom  the  sovereign  sends  or  per¬ 
mits  to  manifest  a  limited  power  over  nature,  may 
consistently  believe  in  demoniacal  possessions  and 
other  influences  of  evil  spirits.  Those  who  stand  in 
doubt  in  regard  to  the  spheres  of  all  supernatural 
beings  but  the  sovereign  One  may  refuse  to  con¬ 
sider,  without  denying,  the  claims  of  any  events 
which  they  cannot  reconcile  with  their  conceptions 
of  the  one  supernatural  power,  in  whom  they  do 
trust.  There  is  perhaps  no  greater  reason  for  our 
expecting  to  solve  all  supernatural  than  all  natural 
problems.  But  the  clearer  our  conceptions  of  the 
one  Supreme  Being  and  the  nearer  we  get  to  him 
in  spirit  and  in  purpose  the  less  will  be  our  surprise 
at  any  event  that  clearly  manifests  his  will  and  pur¬ 
pose.  The  supernatural  seems  more  and  more  to 
belong  to  that  nature  of  which  we.  ourselves  are  a 
part  the  more  we  consider  it  and  him,  and  the  bet¬ 
ter  we  understand  both. 

Several  important  conclusions  follow  from  the 
above  principles.  First,  the  Christian  needs  only 
concern  himself  with  the  claims  of  those  events 
which  pertain  to  the  establishment  and  progress  of 


Supernatural  Deeds  Natural  in  Life  of  Jesus  115 


Christianity.  He  is  not  bound  to  defend  or  de¬ 
nounce  other  claims.  Moses  did  not  argue  against 
the  Egyptian  magicians.  Jesus  did  not  deny  the 
virtue  of  the  troubled  water  in  the  pool  of  Bethesda 
or  its  power  to  heal  the  impotent  man  if  he  could 
reach  it  in  time.  Paul  could  not  be  charged  as  a 
blasphemer  of  the  goddess  Diana  even  by  his  enemies. 
How  easily  could  Jesus  have  helped  the  object  of 
his  compassion  to  Bethesda’s  pool  and  proved  to  him 
by  trial  the  unsoundness  of  his  superstitious  belief 
in  its  healing  virtue,  and  then  set  off  his  own  power 
in  contrast  by  speaking  the  healing  word.  These 
all  regarded  it  as  sufficient  if  they  enforced  their 
claims  by  the  use  of  a  power  that  revealed  their  own 
divine  mission  and  purpose. 

Secondly,  the  Christian  is  not  so  much  concerned 
to  show  the  supernatural  character  of  the  events  of 
the  gospel  narratives  as  their  naturalness,  considered 
as  the  works  of  him  whose  they  were.  The  Doer 
and  the  deeds  must  be  in  harmony.  The  deeds  must 
be  natural  for  one  who  was  what  Jesus  claimed  to 
be  and  natural  for  him  alone.  If  done  by  others  it 
must  be  in  his  name.  They  Would  be  wonderful 
works  indeed,  past  human  belief  if  considered  simply 
as  the  results  of  lower  powers,  but  natural  for  the 
supreme  power  and  benevolent  character  of  Jesus. 
They  were  not  given  to  astonish  men  but  to  win 
them  by  revealing  the  character  of  him  by  whose 
power  they  were  wrought.  It  seems  both  unfor¬ 
tunate  and  unjust  that  the  Greek  words  used  in  the 
gospels  to  designate  the  works  of  Christ  were  often 
translated  wonders  and  miracles.  The  different 


1 1 6  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


Greek  words  used  represent  Christ’s  works  from 
three  different  points  of  view  and  mean  signs  or 
tokens,  powers,  or  simply  works.  The  Greek  word 
which  means  wonderful  things  is  used  but  three 
times  in  the  gospels,  and  never  in  referring  to  the 
works  of  Christ.  It  is  used  once  in  Matthew  and 
once  in  Mark  where  Christ  speaks  of  the  works  of 
false  prophets,  and  once  in  John  where  he  says  to  the 
nobleman  that  he  will  not  believe  except  he  see  signs 
and  wonders.  But  the  gospel  writers  never  use  a 
word  to  characterize  his  works  that  implies  wonder 
or  astonishment,  such  as  the  word  miracle  makes  em¬ 
phatic.  When  the  words  meaning  signs  and  powers 
are  translated  miracles  or  wonders  it  turns  the 
thought  away  from  the  characteristic  feature  to 
which  it  was  the  design  to  call  the  attention  and 
leads  to  a  false  interpretation  of  the  works  them¬ 
selves.  To  judge  fairly  of  the  works  of  Christ  as 
reported  we  must  eliminate  entirely  from  our  minds 
the  idea  of  the  wonderful,  the  marvelous.  Without 
doubt  they  did  strike  the  mass  of  beholders  with 
wonder,  but  this  is  viewing  them  from  afar.  The 
gospel  narrative  would  bring  us  nearer  and  present 
them  in  the  clearer  light  of  their  purpose.  If  we  do 
not  make  them  seem  natural  to  us  under  the  circum¬ 
stances  we  fail  to  justify  our  belief  in  them,  for 
surely  no  unbelief  can  be  more  unreasonable  than  to 
think  the  Creator  might  act  in  an  unnatural  way  or 
contrary  to  himself. 

Thirdly,  we  must  not  only  make  Christ’s  work 
harmonize  with  our  belief  in  him,  but  we  must  make 
it  harmonize  with  what  we  call  nature  in  a  lower 


Supernatural  Deeds'  Natural  in  Life  of  Jesus  1 1 7 


sense  or  we  fail  to  give  him  the  consistency  which 
belongs  to  him  as  Creator.  He  is  to  be  considered 
not  only  as  a  worker  for  three  short  years  on  this 
earth,  but  as  the  Maker  of  the  earth  and  all  of  na¬ 
ture  as  well  as  of  heavenly  things.  We  cannot  ex¬ 
clude  the  order  of  nature  from  the  picture  and  do 
the  Creator  justice.  There  is  no  inconsistency  in 
supposing  the  Creator  may  add  to  his  works  and 
supplement  his  physical  nature  by  the  exercise  of  a 
higher  nature,  but  so  far  as  he  comes  in  contact  with 
it  he  must  recognize  all  its  forces  to  be  consistent 
with  himself.  This  he  does  when  he  uses  them 
though  he  does  it  by  a  power  above  them.  There 
is  no  other  view  of  this  world  so  ennobling  as  to 
see  in  it  the  concrete  of  the  thought  of  the  Creator, 
and  no  other  has  put  this  view  in  language  so  true, 
so  beautiful  and  so  inspiring  as  Christ  himself.  From 
the  lily,  the  sparrow,  the  seed  corn,  the  harvest,  the 
vine,  the  temple,  the  mansion,  the  rock,  the  street, 
the  field,  and  everything  on  which  his  eye  rested  he 
drew  some  spiritual  truth  for  all.  If  the  thoughts 
of  men  are  wider  than  the  sea  then  is  the  Creator’s 
energy  not  bounded  by  what  we  see  and  feel  and  call 
nature.  Present  concrete  nature  is  not  only  a  prom¬ 
ise  of  that  which  it  may  become  but  it  illustrates  the 
universal,  the  spiritual.  The  word  and  creation  are 
a  picture  book  for  man  in  which  the  works  illus¬ 
trate  the  word.  If  some  of  the  letters  in  the  word 
are  illuminated  with  a  heavenly  light  some  of  the 
works  are  supernatural.  The  word  is  one  and  con¬ 
sistent,  the  work  betrays  the  hand  of  one  master. 
The  divine  purpose  and  the  use  of  natural  means 


1 1 8  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  'Nature 


coalesce.  If  the  Son  of  man  turns  water  into  wine 
it  is  done  as  a  filial  act  of  conformity  to  his  moth¬ 
er’s  wish,  and  so  far  as  we  know  it  is  the  last  of  the 
kind  he  was  ever  asked  by  her  to  perform.  The 
sick,  the  blind,  the  lame  have  restored  to  them  the 
natural  use  of  their  powers.  The  hungry  are  fed 
with  bread  and  fish.  To  the  widowed  mother  he 
restores  a  son,  to  the  ruler  he  gives  back  a  daughter, 
for  the  sisters  at  Bethany  he  calls  a  brother  from 
the  grave.  It  was  not  for  the  body  lying  on  the  bier, 
it  was  not  for  the  lifeless  form  from  whose  cheeks 
the  bloom  of  coming  maidenhood  had  just  faded 
away,  it  was  not  for  the  unconscious  clay  that  had 
lain  in  the  grave  four  days,  that  Jesus  showed  his 
power.  What  the  change  means  for  them  who  can 
tell  ?  But  for  the  poor  widow  who  had  lost  the 
natural  support  of  her  declining  years,  the  father  and 
mother  of  an  only  daughter  who  had  left  them  at  a 
tender  age,  and  the  sisters  between  whom  and  the 
brother  he  knew  how  many  ties  of  affection  and  de¬ 
pendence  existed  full  well,  he  had  a  compassion  that 
called  forth  an  expression  of  his  power  to  help,  even 
to  the  raising  of  the  dead.  All  these  works  were 
signs  of  his  character  of  compassion  and  mercy  and 
exhibitions  of  his  power  to  help  in  time  of  human 
need.  It  was  natural  for  him  to  bring  the  dead  to 
life  that  the  son,  the  daughter,  the  brother  might 
continue  to  fulfill  their  natural  obligations  to  those 
who  had  need  of  such  help.  Jesus  performed  no 
such  work  for  any  one  who  could  not  render  such 
service.  It  makes  no  difference  whether  we  call 
such  works  signs  or  powers,  but  to  call  them  won- 


Supernatural  Deeds'  Natural  in  Life  of  Jesus  119 


ders  is  to  show  our  lack  of  appreciation  of  their  real 
significance. 

If  it  be  objected  to  this  position  that  the  word  in 
the  Greek  which  is  properly  translated  wonders  is 
found  eight  times  in  the  Acts  and  three  times  in  the 
epistles  to  denote  the  works  of  the  apostles,  it  may 
be  answered  it  only  makes  the  position  the  stronger 
when  we  come  to  look  more  deeply  into  the  dis¬ 
tinctions  actually  made.  The  word  for  wonders  or 
miracles  is  never  used  except  in  connection  with  the 
word  for  signs,  and  appears  to  refer  to  the  same  class 
of  deeds.  When  we  recall  the  fact  that  the  Hebrews 
had  few  adjectives  in  their  language  and  used  nouns 
instead,  it  may  be  doubted  if  the  Jewish  writers 
meant  anything  by  the  expression  “signs  and  won¬ 
ders”  but  what  we  would  express  by  “wonderful 
signs,”  the  word  for  wonders,  like  the  common 
use  of  our  adjective,  expressing  a  characteristic  of 
the  word  for  signs.  But  however  this  may  be  Luke, 
who  uses  the  word  for  wonders  nine  times  in  the 
Acts,  eight  times  for  the  works  of  the  apostles  and 
once  of  the  work  of  false  prophets,  does  not  use  it 
once  in  his  gospel.  It  is  as  though  many  works 
seemed  wonderful  when  wrought  by  the  hands  of 
the  apostles  but  not  wonderful  when  wrought  by 
Christ.  He  had  such  an  exalted  view  of  Christ  that 
no  work  he  might  do  seemed  wonderful  as  the  work 
of  such  a  worker. 

The  works  of  Christ,  when  considered  in  a  natural 
way,  offer  no  more  difficulty  to  the  understanding 
than  his  words.  He  spoke  as  never  man  spoke,  his 
enemies  being  judges.  When  Peter  was  astonished 


120  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


at  the  draught  of  fishes  he  cried  out  in  terror,  but 
when  the  Lord  said  “Fear  not,”  and  turned  his 
thoughts  to  the  effect  as  a  sign  of  what  was  to  fol¬ 
low  his  own  service,  he  left  all  and  followed  the 
Master.  Fear  and  astonishment  faded  into  love  and 
worship.  It  is  only  when  wonder  dies  that  the 
understanding  is  quickened. 

We  may  not  be  able  to  tell  whence  Christ’s 
knowledge  of  men’s  thoughts  and  the  secret  powers 
of  nature,  or  how,  knowing  them,  he  controlled 
them.  Neither  can  we  tell  how  our  own  minds  can 
be  affected  by  what  our  eyes  see  and  our  ears  hear, 
nor  why  the  movements  of  the  body  should  follow 
the  attitudes  of  the  mind.  There  is  mystery  in  all 
this.  But  as  we  accept  the  tuition  of  life  without 
hesitation,  with  the  same  natural  simplicity  we  should 
seek  to  understand  the  works  and  words  of  Christ. 

When  we  bring  to  an  understanding  of  Christ’s 
works  our  natural  powers  quickened  to  a  conscious¬ 
ness  of  spiritual  truth,  there  is  nothing  in  his  life  to 
make  us  wonder  at  the  combined  results  of  the 
natural  and  the  supernatural.  We  may  wonder  at 
him  but  knowing  him  we  do  not  wonder  at  his 
works.  A  new  birth  is  not  a  new  being.  Even 
Christ  did  no  work  that  compels  us  to  assume  a 
creative  act  such  as  we  suppose  brought  the  worlds 
into  being.  How  water  was  changed  into  wine,  how 
five  loaves  and  two  fishes  grew  to  feed  five  thou¬ 
sand  with  twelve  baskets  remaining  we  cannot  tell. 
But  the  added  material,  if  such  there  was,  could  have 
come  from  the  atmosphere  or  some  other  tangible 
source,  and  it  may  have  been  used  by  a  transforming 


Supernatural  Deeds  Natural  in  Life  of  Jesus  121 


and  assimilating  power  that  was  supernatural  and 
that  would  yet  seem  in  the  highest  degree  natural 
had  we  a  deeper  insight  into  the  nature  of  the 
powers  of  Christ.  It  has  been  said  that  against  no 
book  of  scripture  have  the  shafts  of  infidelity  and  the 
sapping  arts  of  anti-supernaturalism  been  more 
strenuously  directed  than  against  that  of  the  prophet 
Jonah;  and  it  might  be  added  that  for  a  class  of 
minds  no  more  effective  weapon  has  been  forged. 
As  early  as  the  time  of  Julian  the  apostate  pagans 
made  it  the  subject  of  banter  and  ridicule.  Wit¬ 
ticism  is  no  modern  invention.  The  book  has  suffer¬ 
ed  as  much  from  such  exhibitions  of  wit,  perhaps,  as 
all  the  rest  of  scripture.  This  surely  does  not  arise 
from  the  greater  incredibility  of  the  story,  but  it  is 
simply  because  of  what  seems  to  the  scoffers  a  vulner¬ 
able  grotesqueness  in  two  verses  of  the  book  alone. 
They  are  the  seventeenth  of  the  first  chapter,  and  the 
tenth  of  the  second.  “Men  pore  over  the  fish  and 
forget  God.”  There  are  others  of  devout  minds  who 
would  treat  the  story  as  an  allegory.  But  Christ 
seems  to  regard  it  as  history.  He  uses  the  history  as 
allegory  to  set  forth  his  resurrection  and  the  prin¬ 
ciples  that  will  rule  on  the  judgment  day. 

A  fanciful  deliverance  of  the  prophet  from  a 
fanciful  danger  invented  to  impress  spiritual  facts 
might  fitly  be  used  to  represent  a  spiritual  resurrec¬ 
tion,  but  it  seems  a  weak  way  to  represent  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  the  body.  It  is  using  an  indefinite,  intang¬ 
ible,  shadowy  supposition  to  impress  and  make  real 
what  is  already  a  sensible  event.  The  other  applica¬ 
tion  is  more  difficult  to  explain  from  an  allegorical 


122  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


interpretation.  Christ  said  “The  men  of  Nineveh 
shall  rise  up  in  the  judgment  with  the  men  of  this 
generation  and  shall  condemn  it,  for  they  repented  at 
the  preaching  of  Jonah.”  If  Jonah  and  his  preaching 
were  but  creatures  of  the  imagination  there  is  only  a 
phantom  for  evidence  and  the  trial  can  only  be  a 
farce;  for  as  Whewell  says  in  speaking  of  Inductive 
Philosophy,  “From  a  painted  hook  we  can  only  hang 
a  painted  chain.”  But  it  does  not  relieve  the  gro¬ 
tesqueness  to  treat  the  story  as  an  allegory  whose 
privilege  it  is  to  eliminate  everything  that  can  offend 
the  sensibilities  and  present  only  the  pleasing  and 
attractive. 

The  book  is  the  only  evangelistic  history  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  far  beyond  any  other  book  as  a 
whole  it  glows  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospels  in  its 
broad  vision  of  grace  and  forgiveness  for  every  re¬ 
pentant  nation.  To  make  the  two  verses  referred 
to  naturalistic  we  need  only  consider  that  it  was  no 
more  unnatural  to  provide  a  fish  to  serve  the  divine 
purpose  of  rescuing  the  prophet  from  the  sea  than  to 
provide  a  fish  with  a  piece  of  money  in  its  mouth  for 
the  temple  tribute  of  the  Master  and  Peter.  Not 
all  large  trees  grow  on  Lebanon.  Individual  ano¬ 
malies  of  one  kind  and  another  are  not  uncommon  in 
plants  and  animals.  An  animal  sometimes  grows 
abnormally  large.  A  horse  nineteen  hands  high  and 
weighing  nineteen  hundred  pounds  was  exhibited  a 
few  years  ago,  and  perhaps  no  other  has  ever  appear¬ 
ed  in  this  country  to  be  compared  with  it.  We  can¬ 
not  say  that  the  method  of  training,  of  reproof  and 
of  salvation  for  the  prophet  was  unnatural  to  him 


Supernatural  Deeds  Natural  in  Life  of  Jesus  123 


who  was  teaching  the  lessons  of  obedience,  admoni¬ 
tion,  forbearance  and  forgiveness  that  glow  on  every 
page  of  the  book  in  beautiful  illustrations  from  actual 
life  and  real  existence  as  in  the  gospel  story. 

This  discussion  may  have  seemed  in  the  beginning 
to  have  assumed  an  indifference  toward  those  who  do 
not  admit  the  existence  of  an  intelligent  creator. 
There  is  one  further  consideration  to  support  the 
reasonableness  of  the  supernatural  that  must  appeal 
to  all  alike.  It  is  the  fact  of  the  free  will.  No  one 
can  deny  the  existence  of  purpose  and  the  adaptation 
of  means  to  ends.  Every  one  is  conscious  in  himself 
of  thinking  for  the  future,  and  of  planning  combina¬ 
tions  to  secure  certain  ends,  and  of  making  con¬ 
tingent  plans  to  meet  contingent  conditions.  It 
matters  not  if  you  suppose  the  thought  and  purpose 
themselves  are  in  some  way  determined  by  present 
physical  conditions  of  the  brain  and  its  environment. 
The  thought  of  a  house  is  not  a  house,  and  we  are 
all  alike  conscious  of  a  power  to  determine  whether 
or  not  a  house  shall  be.  The  universe  presents  as 
clear  and  convincing  evidences  of  design  and  adap¬ 
tation  as  any  product  of  human  genius.  Indeed  the 
claim  of  the  scientific  skeptic  should  mean  nothing 
but  this,  that  the  universe  is  established  with  such  a 
balancing  of  its  parts  to  meet  all  possible  contingen¬ 
cies  that  there  can  never  be  need  of  care  for  the 
sparrow  or  supernatural  interest  in  the  rise  and 
downfall  of  nations.  If  we  grant  that  there  is  no 
need  to  excite  such  care  or  arouse  such  interest  afresh 
it  would  be  just  as  evident  that  such  care  and  interest 
did  exist  at  some  time  in  the  past  when  all  the  future 


124  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


lay  open  before  the  eyes  of  the  Creator  and  he  de¬ 
termined  that  these  things  should  be;  and  the  care 
and  interest  have  not  died  away.  Place  the  begin¬ 
ning  where  you  will  there  must  have  been  a  deter¬ 
mining  plan  and  purpose. 

If  man  had  an  intelligent  Creator,  or  if  there 
was  any  intelligent  determination  of  what  he  should 
be,  whether  immediate  or  mediate  makes  no  differ¬ 
ence,  he  must  have  had  a  sovereign,  for  there  was 
nothing  other  than  himself  to  determine  him.  As 
sovereign  if  he  created  man  with  free  will  he  must 
have  provided  for  the  adaptation  of  creation  to  the 
contingencies  of  this  free  will.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  consider  here  the  divine  foreknowledge;  the  pro¬ 
visions  made,  whenever  and  wherever  planned  must 
manifest  themselves  at  the  required  time  and  place. 

Not  only  are  the  works  of  the  gospel  narrative 
natural  under  the  circumstances,  on  the  supposition 
that  Jesus  was  the  Being  he  claimed  to  be,  but  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  presuppose  such  a  being  with 
the  right  to  perform  such  deeds.  A  Sovereign  Cre¬ 
ator  could  not  give  free  will  to  man,  and  at  the  same 
time  abdicate  all  authority  to  control  the  exercise  or 
the  results  of  that  free  will  in  any  way,  without  ab¬ 
dicating  his  sovereignty.  It  may  be  laid  down  as  one 
of  the  primary  principles  of  moral  consciousness  that 
there  must  be  authority  somewhere  competent  to  pre¬ 
vent  or  correct  wrong.  Wrong  suffered  must  be 
righted,  wrong  done  must  be  punished,  wrong  pos¬ 
sible  must  have  a  limit.  The  authority  to  control 
results  is  essential  to  the  sovereign’s  gift  of  free  will. 
Man’s  free  will  is  not  the  absolute  free  will  of  the 


Supernatural  Deeds  Natural  in  Life  of  Jesus  125 


Creator  and  could  not  be,  without  other  infinite 
powers  like  omniscience  and  omnipotence.  An  ul¬ 
timate  power  to  control  results  must  reside  in  the 
sovereign  alike  for  the  sovereignty,  for  the  sake  of 
the  person  sharing  the  power,  and  for  the  sake  of 
those  who  might  suffer  injustice  from  its  selfish  or 
mistaken  use.  How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long,  is 
heard  from  the  victim  of  avarice,  hatred  and  ambi¬ 
tion;  how  long,  from  the  house  of  bondage;  how 
long,  from  the  burden-bearers  whose  burdens  are 
doubled  by  the  wrong-doing  of  the  wicked;  how 
long,  from  nations  under  the  heel  of  oppression,  un¬ 
justly  humiliated  and  undone  by  powerful  and  un¬ 
scrupulous  conquerors;  how  long,  from  the  tender 
hearted  lover  of  his  kind  who  sees  wars  still  raging 
among  the  nations;  murder,  treachery,  theft  and 
vice  of  every  kind  still  infecting  the  fountains  of 
moral  life;  and  selfishness  still  triumphant  over  the 
weak  and  helpless.  It  is  the  cry  of  universal  human¬ 
ity  pleading  for  the  supernatural  to  come  to  the  re¬ 
lief  of  suffering,  groaning  nature.  What  is  Hamlet 
but  the  echo  of  this  universal  cry  fruitlessly  beating 
against  answering  crags,  and  dying  away  hopeless  at 
last  in  a  starless  night.  And  the  wrong  of  it  all 
hides  under  the  shadow  of  the  free  will.  He  that 
gave  free  will  alone  can  give  relief. 


CHAPTER  X 


The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus 

ID  EHOLD  there  talked  with  him  two  men,  which 
were  Moses  and  Elias:  who  appeared  in  glory. 

What  visitors:  the  lawgiver  of  the  ages,  and 
the  great  prophet  of  all  time,  clad  in  glory.  To 
what  a  Host:  His  face  did  shine  as  the  sun  and  his 
raiment  was  white  as  the  light,  so  as  no  fuller  on 
earth  can  white  them.  On  the  mountain  top  away 
from  the  sight  of  men,  with  but  three  chosen  wit¬ 
nesses  beside.  Such  a  scene  the  earth  has  had  but 
once.  Jehovah  came  to  Abraham  with  “Get  thee 
out  of  thy  country.”  He  came  to  Moses  with  “Put 
off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet.”  He  came  to  Isaiah 
with  “Go  tell.”  Jesus  came  to  Saul  with  “Arise 
and  go.”  He  came  to  the  Revelator  with  “Behold 
I  come  quickly.”  Today,  whether  day  or  night  we 
cannot  tell,  today  Moses  and  Elias  come  to  Jesus. 
Men  from  the  world  bejmnd  now  come  to  Jesus  in 
this  world.  They  do  not  seem  to  come  as  messen¬ 
gers,  but  to  talk  with  him  as  on  equal  terms,  as  if 
their  theme  was  one  of  common  interest.  Moses 
from  an  unknown  tomb,  Elias  last  seen  by  men 
ascending  in  a  chariot  of  fire; — these  two  appearing 
in  glory,  and  the  Son  of  God  just  from  communion 
with  his  Father, — these  thus  talking  together,  would 
seem  to  be  a  scene  for  angels,  not  for  men.  But  high 
and  insufferably  sublime  as  it  was  we  are  not  at  a 

126 


The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus  127 


Joss  for  tlie  subject  of  their  conversation.  They 
spoke  of  the  decease  which  Jesus  should  accomplish 
at  Jerusalem.  The  theme  was  as  great  as  the  scene 
was  glorious.  To  behold  the  sight  in  all  its  splendor 
should  blind  mortal  eyes,  to  hear  the  theme  discussed 
by  those  who  knew  should  break  the  heart.  What 
a  contrast  between  tlie  scene  and  the  theme!  But, 
no,  not  if  rightly  understood!  All  was  fitting  to 
tlie  occasion.  A  bow  of  promise  brighter  than  the 
pledge  of  no  more  hood  rested  one  end  upon  the 
light-white  crown  and  the  other  on  the  Easter-opened 
tomb,  and  it  spanned  the  hill  of  Calvary.  The  death 
was  the  center  around  which  all  else  moved.  From 
the  promise  in  Eden  to  the  gathering  of  the  hundred 
and  forty-four  thousand  before  the  throne  with  white 
robes  washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  the  death 
is  the  key  to  unlock  the  meaning  of  all  that  is  said 
and  done.  In  the  death  we  must  find  the  unity  of 
all  that  is  encircled  in  that  brighter  bow  of  promise. 

The  most  of  what  ought  to  be  remembered  here 
has  been  often  and  well  told.  How  the  penalty  of  sin 
could  not  be  laid  at  will  on  an  innocent  third  party, 
so  that  the  mediator  must  be  one  with  God  to  make 
the  imposition  just,  and  one  with  the  sinner  to  make 
it  real,  how  the  penalty  attached  to  sin  was  death, 
and  how  the  Jewish  Council  for  the  Jewish  people 
and  Pilate  for  the  Roman  government  united  to 
inflict  the  death  need  not  be  here  enlarged  upon.  It 
was  the  theme  of  Peter’s  pentecostal  sermon,  of  Ste¬ 
phen’s  defense,  and  of  Paul’s  preaching  and  writing. 
Above  all  Jesus  himself  showed  the  disciples  after  the 
resurrection  how  necessary  it  was  for  him  to  suffer 


128  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


such  things  before  he  entered  into  his  new  glory. 
What  we  are  to  do  here  is  to  trace  the  natural  events 
which  led  up  to  this  supernatural  result. 

Great  men  stand  above  the  reach  of  common 
minds.  Aristotle  was  wise;  Kant  may  have  been 
both  wise  and  true,  but  they  did  not  speak  to  meaner 
intellects.  Men  of  a  different  mould  were  needed 
to  bring  that  which  was  true  and  useful  to  the  com¬ 
mon  understanding.  Jesus  was  profound  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  most  speculative  imagination,  but  he 
needed  no  lower  mind  to  set  home  his  simple  truth 
to  the  heart  of  the  lowliest.  The  poor  in  intellect 
and  in  moral  worth,  as  in  purse,  had  the  gospel 
preached  to  them.  The  Sphinx  always  turns  his 
ear  to  hear  whatever  secret  you  may  have  to  tell, 
but  he  never  tells  to  you  his  secret  in  return.  An¬ 
cient  philosophies  had  their  mysteries.  But  Jesus 
came  to  reveal  the  mysteries  of  his  Father’s  kingdom 
and  he  told  them  in  parables  so  simple  that  all  might 
understand  and  turn  their  hearts  to  thoughts  of 
higher  things.  He  made  his  character,  his  doctrine 
and  his  authority  so  clear  by  his  works  and  his 
words  that  none  who  had  ears  to  hear,  eyes  to  see  and 
hearts  to  understand  could  have  excuse  for  ignorance 
or  for  reading  him  wrong.  He  labored  night  and 
day  and  used  the  speech  of  the  most  common  ex¬ 
perience  to  make  himself  understood,  and  rested  not 
when  any  call  for  a  deed  of  mercy  came  to;  him. 
Yet  against  all  this  his  death,  supernaturally  pro¬ 
vided  for,  was  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  situa¬ 
tion.  It  was  the  placing  of  a  holy  life  which  de¬ 
manded  holiness  before  the  most  religiously  trained 


The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus 


129 


nnd  enlightened  tribunal  the  world  has  ever  known, 
hardened  in  rebellion  by  tradition  and  heredity 
through  two  thousand  years  of  the  most  marvelous 
history  of  which  we  have  a  record.  There  is  war¬ 
rant  to  believe  that  no  other  people  would  have 
pushed  their  opposition  to  such  an  extremity  and 
with  such  hasty  zeal — his  work  must  have  all  been 
done  within  about  three  years — against  the  forms  of 
law  and  in  the  absence  of  the  smallest  act  which 
could  be  made  the  basis  of  a  charge  before  the  legal 
court.  Men  will  commit  excesses  driven  by  insane 
frenzy;  the  Nazarenes  might  have  lawlessly  crowd¬ 
ed  him  over  the  precipice  to  his  death;  the  Jews 
might  have  madly  stoned  him  as  they  tried  several 
times  to  do.  But  for  the  most  serious  minded  and 
august  representatives  of  the  nation  to  demand  his 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  Roman  governor  who 
found  no  fault  in  him  is  the  extreme  expression  of  an 
unchangeable  purpose.  We  have  the  authority  of 
Christ  himself  for  saying  that  Tyre  and  Sidon  would 
have  repented  in  sackcloth  and  ashes  had  they  been 
witnesses  of  the  works  that  had  been  done  in  Cho- 
razin  and  Bethsaida,  and  even  Sodom  would  have 
still  stood  if  the  exalted  privilege  bestowed  upon 
Capeinaum  had  been  given  to  her.  Nineveh  did 
repent  under  the  preaching  of  Jonah,  but  Judea  and 
Galilee  gave  only  deadly  resistance  to  the  warnings, 
the  threatenings  and  the  tender  persuasions  of  Christ. 

In  the  fulness  of  time.  The  time  was  come. 
Preparations  had  been  completed.  There  was  no 
doubt  of  the  result.  By  their  training  and  their  op¬ 
portunities  the  Hebrew  nation  and  the  Jewish  peo- 


130 


The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


pic  were  brought  face  to  face  with  the  tiuths  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  so  distinctly  and  with  such 
a  divine  force  as  to  draw  out  the  opposition  of  hu¬ 
man  nature  to  heavenly  holiness,  and  they  were 
made  to  appear  as  they  always  are,  irreconcilable 
forces.  I  here  could  be  but  one  natuial  end  to  such 
a  contest.  With  all  this  in  view  it  was  determined 
that  the  Son  of  God  should  be  born  oi  woman,  born 
under  the  law.  He  should  come  of  that  nation 
which  had  received  the  law  by  the  disposition  of 
angels  and  had  not  kept  it.  It  is  often  said  the  world 
was  ready  to  receive  Christianity  and  publish  it 
abroad,  because  of  its  conscious  needs,  its  failures  in 
morals  and  religion,  its  universally  dominant  govern¬ 
ment,  and  its  scattered  rays  of  hope  appearing  here 
and  there.  But  the  essential  preparation  was  the 
preparation  for  the  death.  Without  this  there  could 
be  no  remission  of  sins.  A  race  was  chosen  capable 
of  developing  the  profoundest  religious  convictions 
and  it  stands  before  the  world  today  as  the  one  race 
whose  only  history  is  a  religious  history.  But  all 
through  their  career  they  were  prone  to  pervert  the 
truth  and  pursue  a  false  road,  even  under  the  guid¬ 
ance  of  the  greatest  light.  And  they  pursued  their 
purposes  with  a  religious  zeal  born  of  a  sense  of  the 
most  sacred  religious  obligation.  It  was  the  decep¬ 
tive  nature  of  a  human  heart,  desperately  wicked. 
Human  nature  was  tested  as  nowhere  else  and  it 
rang  true  to  the  requirements  of  a  fallen  race. 

It  is  not  meant  by  this  to  make  a  comparison  of 
the  moral  or  intellectual  character  of  the  Israelites 
and  other  nations.  Their  condemnation  of  Jesus  did 


The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus  13 1 


not  show  a  specially  mean  spirit.  It  did  not  spring 
from  low  commonplace  moral  corruption.  It  was 
not  from  motives  of  common  selfishness  or  personal 
aggrandizement.  It  was  not  base  political  intrigue. 
In  large  part  it  showed  greatness  of  intellect,  and 
high  ambition,  an  intellect  and  ambition  worthy  of  a 
great  and  good  cause.  But  when  representative  men 
found  themselves  in  the  presence  of  the  only  sinless 
Being  that  ever  walked  with  men,  they  demanded 
his  death.  Human  nature  was  far  more  on  trial  in 
front  of  Pilate’s  judgment  hall  than  was  Jesus,  and 
in  the  very  moment  of  its  supposed  victory  its  case 
was  lost.  As  if  there  might  be  hope  of  a  natural 
regeneration  for  the  divinely  chosen  and  divinely 
favored  people  Jesus  had  labored  lovingly  and  cease¬ 
lessly  to  draw  them  to  himself,  but  at  last  seeing 
failure  already  at  hand,  and  impressed  with  its 
magnitude  as  he  gazed  on  the  doomed  temple  and  its 
city,  he  wept  with  no  note  of  consolation  in  his  cry. 

The  principle  elements  of  spiritual  truth  in  the 
midst  of  which  the  Hebrew  character  developed  were 
monotheism,  separateness,  revealed  law  and  a  belief 
in  a  future  national  greatness  that  was  indifferent 
to  present  consequences.  These  principles  were  in¬ 
grained  in  the  mentality  of  the  race  by  a  tuition  that 
knew  no  limit  of  patience  or  resources,  through  sla¬ 
very,  by  judgments,  by  defeats,  by  victories,  in  the 
wilderness,  in  prosperity,  by  humiliation  and  through 
slavery  again,  till  they  were  accepted  as  axiomatic. 
They  were  righteous  principles  but  hard  to  learn. 
They  must  be  practiced  till  they  grew  into  habit. 
Paul  could  say  “We  know  that  an  idol  is  nothing 


132  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


in  the  world.”  But  how  long  was  Israel  in  learn¬ 
ing  this  easy  lesson.  One  of  the  important  rules  in 
forming  a  habit  is  to  allow  no  exception  in  first  ef¬ 
forts.  The  worship  of  the  golden  calf  must  be 
treated  in  a  way  to  make  an  impression  that  would 
remain.  The  nations  of  Palestine  must  be  exter¬ 
minated  to  make  separation  possible,  and  later,  fam¬ 
ilies  mixed  with  the  foreigners  must  be  broken  up  to 
make  separation  complete.  If  the  king  of  Israel 
spares  the  king  of  Amalek  in  disobedience  of  the 
divine  command  he  must  lose  his  kingdom.  The  lit¬ 
erature  of  the  people  must  reflect  the  public  policy. 
The  Psalms  which  express  their  ideal  religious  life 
must  plead  for  both  the  prosperity  of  the  righteous 
and  the  destruction  of  the  wicked.  The  enemies 
of  the  Psalmist,  the  representative  of  holiness,  are 
the  enemies  of  Jehovah.  The  intolerance  of  the 
Psalms  is  intolerance  of  evil.  The  sparing  of  Ra- 
hab  and  her  house,  the  adoption  of  Ruth,  approval 
of  Solomon  for  not  asking  for  the  life  of  his  ene¬ 
mies,  and  the  admission  of  proselytes  were  too  in¬ 
significant  instances  to  establish  the  principle  of 
mercy  as  also  the  distinction  of  the  spirit  of  belief  and 
formalism  in  the  dealings  of  Jehovah,  and  when  the 
Ninevites  repented,  even  Jonah  could  not  understand 
why  they  should  be  forgiven.  The  passage  of  the 
Red  Sea,  the  manna  of  the  wilderness,  the  conquest 
of  Palestine,  the  triumphs  of  kings  and  prophets  were 
evidences  that  Jehovah  upholds  those  who  trust  and 
obey  him,  and  such  events  accustomed  the  people  to 
put  implicit  confidence  in  the  good  in  store  for  them 
as  a  nation.  They  were  as  reckless  of  danger  as  the 


The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus  133 


Turks  but  not  on  the  same  grounds.  The  Turk 
is  a  consistent  fatalist,  the  Hebrew  believed  in  God 
as  an  omnipotent  ally.  The  written  and  oral  law 
was  elaborated  with  the  purpose  of  making  formal 
application  to  every  possible  case  of  conduct.  The 
closing  years  of  the  era  before  Christ  were  marked 
by  the  greatest  extension  in  the  details  of  the  Jewish 
law  evolved  from  the  written  law  and  tradition. 
The  greatest  of  the  professional  expounders  of  the 
law  taught  till  near  the  time  of  the  Christian  era, 
perhaps  almost  to  the  very  year  when  the  Nazarene 
child  of  twelve  astonished  the  doctors  with  his  ques¬ 
tions  and  answers.  The  day  will  soon  dawn  when 
One  who  embodies  the  spirit  by  which  true  law  is 
formulated  will  seek  to  substitute  life  for  formal  tra¬ 
dition  and  regeneration  a  law-ridden  religion  and  its 
worshippers  by  the  spirit  of  truth.  Will  the  people 
receive  him? 

Their  monotheism  left  no  place  for  the  claims  of 
the  Son  of  God.  Their  separation  forbade  to  eat 
with  publicans  and  sinners  even  of  their  own  race. 
As  the  nation  had  been  exclusive  under  the  law  the 
new  kingdom  for  which  they  looked  should  be  for 
Jews  alone.  They  had  learned  by  defeat  in  battle, 
by  oppression  in  slavery,  by  pestilence  and  famine 
the  need  of  searching  out  and  punishing  every  in¬ 
fraction  of  the  law.  Their  hopes  for  the  future  of 
their  nation  rested  upon  their  fidelity  in  sustaining 
the  law  in  its  minutest  details,  and  no  consequences 
of  its  enforcement  could  be  so  hateful  as  those  of  its 
neglect. 

The  two  great  schools  of  law  had  disputed  about 


134  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


many  things  but  they  were  agreed  on  these  two 
propositions:  First,  it  would  have  been  better  if 
man  had  never  been  created.  Secondly,  since  he  is 
in  the  world  let  him  be  careful  of  his  actions.  With 
a  people  who  could  look  upon  life  judicially  as  such 
a  prospect  no  risk  of  losing  the  hope  of  a  Messiah 
who  would  restore  their  former  greatness  should  be 
run  whatever  the  cost  of  avoiding  it.  It  was  ex¬ 
pedient  that  one  man  should  die  for  the  people.  This 
was  the  atmosphere  in  which  that  madness  matured 
which  even  the  heathen  reckoned  as  an  infliction  of 
the  gods  upon  those  whom  they  would  destroy.  Its 
fruits  are  seen  in  the  devotion  of  the  garrison  of 
Masada  and  their  families  to  extermination  at  the 
hands  of  executioners  chosen  by  lot  from  among 
themselves,  the  last  one  to  take  his  own  life.  The 
enemy  found  in  the  town  but  two  women  and  five 
children  who  had  hidden  away.  It  is  seen  in  the 
fateful  course  of  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem  at  its  final 
capture.  One  cannot  read  these  stories  in  Josephus 
without  a  shudder.  The  last  argument  decisive  of 
the  case  of  Jesus  seems  to  have  been  based  on  the 
fear  of  losing  national  existence.  It  was  this  that 
nerved  the  council  up  to  their  final  act.  It  was  to 
the  outward  form  of  the  promise  that  they  clung  to 
the  last,  not  to  the  spirit  that  giveth  life.  In  their 
estimation  Jesus  had  been  guilty  of  blasphemy,  he 
had  consorted  with  publicans  and  sinners,  and  he  had 
violated  the  traditions  of  the  Sabbath.  All  these 
things  they  could  plead  before  the  people  and  in 
self-justification.  But  these  did  not  weigh  most  with 
them.  His  works  were  undeniable,  but  he  could 


The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus  135 


not  be  the  Messiah  or  prophet  for  whom  they  look¬ 
ed.  He  had  refused  the  five  thousand  who  wanted 
to  compel  him  to  be  their  king,  and  he  gave  no 
promise  of  national  independence.  When  it  was 
clearly  put  to  him  to  answer  if  he  favored  giving 
tribute  to  Caesar  he  offered  no  objection  to  Roman 
jurisdiction.  The  skill  with  which  the  question  was 
answered  has  been  the  admiration  of  Christians  but 
it  did  not  clear  him  of  the  charge  of  treason  in  the 
estimation  of  his  questioners.  When  the  great  act 
of  raising  Lazarus  turned  the  eyes  of  the  people  upon 
him,  the  council  said  “If  we  let  him  alone  all  men 
will  believe  on  him  and  the  Romans  shall  come  and 
take  away  both  our  place  and  nation.”  And  the 
High  Priest  said,  “Ye  know  nothing  at  all,  nor  con¬ 
sider  that  it  is  expedient  for  us  that  one  man  should 
die  for  the  people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish 
not.”  Moral  considerations  did  not  weigh  against 
this  risk.  Not  one  of  the  reasons  that  urged  them 
on  would  have  any  influence  with  Pilate,  and  every¬ 
thing  rested  finally  with  him.  When  charges  had  to 
be  finally  invented  bribery  and  falsehood  did  not 
stand  in  their  way,  and  Pilate  yielded  at  last  to 
threats  and  over-persuasion.  The  first  chapter  of 
Romans  and  the  comic  poets  make  us  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  the  morality  of  Rome.  Religion 
was  divorced  from  morality  and  both  went  down  in 
moral  and  religious  darkness.  The  Jews  arrayed 
religion  against  morality,  and  religion,  such  as  it 
was,  came  off  victor.  But  it  led  to  the  great  tragedy 
of  the  cross. 

Such  were  the  fruits  of  Hebrew  civilization  not- 


136  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


withstanding  the  light  shed  from  the  religious  prin¬ 
ciples  under  which  it  was  developed.  The  national 
life  was  planted  in  the  soil  of  belief  in  one  God,  one 
chosen  people,  one  revealed  word,  and  a  future  su¬ 
premacy  of  dominion.  But  the  national  character 
did  not  grow  out  of  these.  It  did  not  find  their 
higher  universal  element  of  love.  Its  roots  were 
in  the  common  soil  of  human  nature.  The  bloom 
of  the  peach  and  the  fragrance  of  the  rose  are  not 
taken  from  the  earth  as  bloom  and  fragrance.  They 
are  developed  by  a  selecting  and  transforming  power 
in  the  tree  and  shrub.  The  tree  frog  may  hunt  its 
prey  among  the  branches  of  a  tree  unseen,  because 
its  color  does  not  distinguish  it  from  the  bark  on 
which  it  sits.  It  is  said  to  be  able  to  assume  a  variety 
of  colors.  But  it  does  not  draw  its  color  from  the 
bark.  The  Hebrew  character  was  able  to  put  on  a 
religious  garb,  which  was  not  spun  and  woven  from 
the  substance  of  revealed  truth.  The  people  of 
Judea  like  those  of  Samaria,  feared  Jehovah  and 
served  their  own  gods.  There  was  no  love  of 
spiritual  life  in  Jew  or  Gentile,  and  the  forms  of 
religion  were  sensual,  not  spiritual.  They  could  not 
be  otherwise  till  a  power  of  selection  and  assimila¬ 
tion  was  born  in  the  soul. 

It  is  one  of  the  paradoxes  of  the  gospel  narrative 
that  after  the  trembling  anxiety  caused  by  Christ’s 
warning  to  his  disciples  of  his  impending  death ;  after 
the  arrest,  the  trial,  and  the  crucifixion;  after  the 
despairing  days  of  the  entombment;  the  rehearsal 
of  the  suffering  by  an  apparent  stranger  did  not  re¬ 
new  the  anguish  of  disappointment  with  which  the 


The  Supernatural  in  the  Death  of  Jesus  137 


two  disciples  on  their  way  to  Emmaus  had  begun 
the  conversation,  nor  elicit  expressions  of  passionate 
sorrow,  but  only  kindled  a  burning  sense  of  love 
and  happiness  in  their  hearts,  to  which  they  confessed 
when  their  eyes  were  opened.  It  is  one  of  the 
paradoxes  of  Christianity  that  those  who  were  re¬ 
sponsible  for  the  death  of  the  Master  were  immedi¬ 
ately  exhorted  by  the  disciples  to  share  in  the  in¬ 
estimable  benefits  which  it  brought  within  reach.  It 
is  one  of  the  paradoxes  of  the  history  of  the  church 
that  the  death  is  the  theme  of  songs  of  praise  and 
glory,  not  of  dirge  and  lamentation.  It  would  not 
seem  so  strange  if  the  limitations  of  human  nature 
should  cause  the  Christian  to  forget  the  death  in 
his  rejoicing  over  the  resurrection;  but  on  the  con¬ 
trary  the  church  has  always  refused  to  glory  save 
in  the  cross.  The  explanation  of  the  paradox  is 
found  only  in  the  argument  of  the  Risen  One  that 
it  was  necessary  for  him  thus  to  suffer  and  enter  into 
glory. 

The  supernatural  training  of  the  Jewish  race 
called  forth  a  nature  by  the  development  of  which 
the  great  purposes  of  redemption  were  made  possible. 
Through  the  death  of  Christ  supernatural  religion 
is  united  with  a  purified  morality  and  man  becomes 
a  new  creature.  Who  can  look  upon  the  history  of 
nations  and  not  recognize  the  fact  that  a  supernatural 
intelligence  and  power  have  been  shaping  the  des¬ 
tinies  of  men?  It  is  the  supernatural  using  the 
natural.  But  infinitely  more  important  than  the 
care  or  condemnation  of  the  Alexanders  and  the 
Caesars  were  the  events  that  opened  the  way  to 


138  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


the  redemption  of  human  nature.  Jesus  did  not 
have  more  indulgence  for  the  sinful  woman  than  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  but  he  had  more  compassion, 
and  he  could  indulge  his  compassion  because  he  knew 
that  by  his  blood  he  could  give  a  balm  that  would 
heal  the  wounds  of  the  sin-scarred  soul.  What  has 
manifested  itself  as  above  nature,  physical,  animal, 
and  intellectual,  and  above  free  will,  becomes  essen¬ 
tial  nature  in  the  beginning  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
on  earth. 


CHAPTER  XI 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus 

T  HE  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  should  not  be 
taken  as  a  type  of  the  final  resurrection  of  men 
in  respect  to  its  manner  or  its  purpose.  We  do  not 
know  nor  can  we  conceive  of  any  necessity  growing 
out  of  his  own  perfection,  why  the  Son  of  God,  who 
was  from  the  beginning  and  by  whom  the  worlds 
were  made,  should  return  to  the  body  laid  away  in 
the  tomb.  We  may  conceive  that  the  created  human 
soul,  by  virtue  of  the  laws  of  its  being,  is  so  related 
to  a  former  organization  that  soul  and  body  are 
essential  to  each  other;  that  for  the  completion  and 
perfection  and  continuance  of  finite  personal  identity 
of  the  individual,  whose  beginning  depends  on  the 
union  of  soul  and  body,  a  resurrection  of  the  body 
after  death  may  be  a  necessity.  How  it  is  in  fact 
we  cannot  tell.  But  there  seems  no  reason  why  the 
Son  of  God  should  take  human  form  again,  so  far 
as  his  dependence  on  a  body  is  concerned.  For  in¬ 
stance,  we  cannot  conceive  of  limitations  of  the 
Eternal  and  Omnipresent  One  by  conditions  of  time 
and  space,  although  he  might  be  self-limited  in  his 
manifestations  to  finite  creatures,  but  conditions  con¬ 
ceived  of  only  in  terms  of  time  space  are  the  alphabet 
of  all  human  knowledge.  When  we  use  such  words 
as  “decrees”  and  “foreknowledge,”  we  are  using  the 
language  of  finite  men,  not  the  language  of  the 

139 


140  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


Eternal.  It  may  be  that  in  the  case  of  mankind  con¬ 
tinued  existence,  or  immortality,  implies  the  necessity 
of  resurrection  of  the  body  or  some  equivalent ;  per¬ 
haps  some  kind  of  metempsychosis.  The  subject  is 
open  only  for  conjecture,  not  for  judgment.  We 
may  say  that  some  one  of  these  suggestions  has 
seemed  to  be  reasonable  to  one  or  another  of  the 
profoundest  thinkers  of  the  human  race.  But  none 
of  the  reasons  for  the  resurrection  of  mankind  seem 
to  belong  to  the  Eternal  Son,  and  it  is  of  his  resur¬ 
rection  that  we  are  now  concerned. 

As  we  cannot  discuss  the  necessity  of  Christ’s  res¬ 
urrection  on  the  grounds  of  his  divine  nature,  be¬ 
cause  we  cannot  conceive  of  any  such  necessity, 
neither  will  it  be  necessary  to  discuss  at  this  point  its 
relation  to  the  faith  of  his  people  in  him;  because 
this  feature  is  well  understood,  and  it  has  been  elab¬ 
orated  with  clearness  and  copiousness  in  many  ex¬ 
haustive  arguments.  The  necessity  seems  essentially 
to  lie  in  the  fact  that  he  is  the  Son  of  Man.  For 
the  sake  of  his  people  he  accepted  human  birth.  He 
shrinks  from  nothing  which  this  human  birth  implies. 
He  accepts  and  maintains  his  relationship  to  earth  as 
of  woman  born.  The  time  may  come  when  the 
earth  itself  will  pass  away  and  this  order  of  relation¬ 
ship  cease,  but  it  is  not  yet.  So  long  as  his  body  lies 
in  the  tomb  there  is  nothing  left  of  earth  on  which 
the  hope  of  immortality  for  man  can  feed. 

We  think  of  God  the  Father,  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
the  angels  as  purely  spirit,  with  spiritual  activities. 
But  it  is  difficult  to  form  any  practical  conception  of 
a  man  without  physical  embodiment.  When  So- 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus 


141 


crates  was  about  to  drink  the  fatal  hemlock,  Crito 
asked  him,  “How  would  you  have  us  bury  you?” 
Socrates  replied,  “In  any  way  you  like;  only  you 
must  get  hold  of  me  and  take  care  that  I  do  not 
walk  away  from  you,”  then  he  continues  with  a  dis¬ 
couraging  complaint  that  after  all  his  teaching  and 
arguments  his  disciples  were  not  able  to  think  of  him 
except  as  they  thought  of  his  body.  Without  going 
into  any  useless  speculation  as  to  the  mode  of  exist¬ 
ence  of  disembodied  spirits  it  may  at  least  be  proper 
to  seek  to  form  some  practical  conception  of  the  re¬ 
lations  of  the  soul  to  the  body  as  we  know  them.  It 
is  said  in  Genesis  that  the  body  was  formed  of  the 
dust  of  the  ground,  and  God  breathed  into  it  the 
breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul.  From 
this  brief  description  we  may  form  the  practical  con¬ 
ception  of  a  physical  form  adapted  to  a  variety  of 
physical  exercises  and  a  soul  capable  of  using  the 
body  for  all  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed. 
We  are  not  concerned  here  with  any  question  as  to 
what  the  soul  may  do  or  be  out  of  the  body,  but  only 
of  the  soul  and  body  in  their  relation  to  each  other. 
To  make  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  accord  with  nature 
it  seems  only  necessary  that  his  body  should  possess 
the  physical  power  and  adaptation  of  a  body  as  a 
man,  and  that  the  soul  should  come  and  take  control 
of  this  body  as  the  ordinary  living  person  moves  and 
has  his  being. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  bring  into  view 
the  circumstances  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  in 
such  a  form  as  to  call  attention  to  the  natural  side 
of  the  series  of  events.  If  the  body  is  ready  to  ful- 


142  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


fill  its  mission,  the  question  is  not,  “Can  it  rise 
again,”  but,  “Will  the  spirit  and  the  body  come 
together  again.” 

You  look  upon  a  body  from  which  the  spirit  has 
almost  or  wholly  gone,  and  you  ask  the  question, 
“Will  the  body  come  back  to  life  again?”  You  sit 
in  the  evening  and  watch  the  waning  flame  as  the 
candle  burns  down  into  the  socket  of  the  candle¬ 
stick.  Dimmer  and  dimmer  the  light  becomes.  At 
length  you  see  the  flame  leap  a  little  from  the  wick, 
and  you  think  it  is  gone.  But  the  heat  of  the  candle¬ 
stick  generates  a  little  more  gas  which  rises  and 
catches  the  flame  before  it  has  passed  beyond  its 
reach,  and  the  flame  comes  down  to  the  wick  again. 
The  candle  truly  reached  out  after  the  flame  and 
brought  the  flame  back  to  itself.  As  you  watch  a 
dying  man  sometimes  the  spirit  seems  to  flicker  over 
the  body,  like  a  waning  flame,  before  the  final  separa¬ 
tion,  and  you  may  ask  if  the  body  will  come  back 
to  life  again.  But  when  the  flame  has  wholly  died 
away,  the  question  is,  “Will  a  flame  be  brought  back 
to  the  candle?”  So  when  the  spirit  has  finally  left 
the  body,  the  question  is  not,  “Will  the  body  come 
back  to  life?”  but,  “Will  life  come  back  to  the 
body?”  If  it  should  come  back,  would  it  find  the 
support  and  readiness  for  service  it  must  have  to 
maintain  the  relationship  once  owned  by  both? 

Let  us  now  examine  some  of  the  conditions  of  life- 
activity,  and  see  where  the  great  difficulty  lies  in 
accepting  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  The  spirit 
seems  to  cease  its  control  of  the  bodily  functions 
when  the  physical  organization  becomes  too  weak 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus 


143 


in  some  of  its  parts  to  respond  to  the  impulse  of  life ; 
or  the  circulation  becomes  clogged  by  the  accumula¬ 
tion  of  matter  which  there  is  not  strength  to  remove. 
It  does  not  seem  that  the  spirit  loses  its  force,  but 
that  the  body  fails.  Often  mental  vigor  remains 
at  its  height  till  the  very  close  of  life.  It  is  beyond 
dispute  that  there  are  cases  of  resuscitation  of  the 
drowned,  when  life  has  lost  its  power  over  the  action 
of  the  body  so  completely  that  it  could  never  of  itself 
recover  it,  and  yet  the  power  may  again  have  effect, 
and  the  natural  functions  of  the  soul  may  be  re¬ 
stored,  by  the  use  of  mechanical  means.  The  mani¬ 
pulation  of  the  heart  and  the  lungs  and  chest  by 
physical  means  cannot  be  made  to  take  the  place  of 
the  soul,  for  if  this  has  fully  departed  the  body  will 
surely  go  to  decay.  But  mechanical  means  may  be 
used  to  stimulate  conditions  in  the  body  which  will 
arouse  to  life  a  vitality  so  feeble  that  it  does  not 
reveal  itself,  and  never  would  reveal  itself  to  the 
senses  again  were  not  these  conditions  restored  by 
physical  means.  The  case  of  drowning  men  being 
thus  restored  to  vigor  in  a  brief  time,  though  not 
very  common,  is  striking,  but  it  does  not  differ  essen¬ 
tially  from  the  most  familiar  experiences  of  life. 
The  use  of  restoratives  and  medicine  in  general  is 
based  on  the  same  principle.  The  patient  will  surely 
die.  He  cannot  withstand  the  ravages  of  disease. 
But  a  fitting  use  of  medicines  and  care  of  the  body 
will  restore  conditions  of  the  body  which  will  give 
the  spirit  a  vantage  ground  from  which  it  can  claim 
its  own  again. 

The  writer  had  an  experience  some  years  ago 


144  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


strikingly  to  impress  the  fact  upon  him  that  flick¬ 
ering  life  may  be  kept  for  an  indefinite  time,  although 
in  weak  contact  with  the  body,  by  such  physical 
means,  when  all  power  of  restoration  seems  to  have 
been  beyond  reach.  He  called  on  a  friend  one  even¬ 
ing  whose  only  son,  a  lad  of  eight  years  of  age,  was 
very  low  with  diphtheria,  not  then  generally  thought 
to  be  contagious.  He  remained  till  late,  and  when 
about  to  take  his  leave  the  physician  said  it  was  so 
serious  a  case  that  he  wished  him  to  stay  and  watch 
with  the  lad  during  the  night.  As  the  family  joined 
in  the  request  it  was  gladly  granted.  The  night 
passed  with  no  special  change,  and  the  next  day  he 
taught  his  usual  college  classes  and  prepared  his 
work  for  the  day  following.  In  the  evening  he 
came  again  to  inquire  after  the  sick  one  and  was 
told  that  council  had  been  held  and  little  hope  of 
recovery  was  given.  The  family  and  physician  united 
in  the  opinion  that  the  watcher  of  the  night  before 
had  a  stronger  hold  on  the  life  of  the  child  than 
any  one  else,  and  they  urged  him  to  remain,  if  possi¬ 
ble,  and  watch  another  night.  They  said  that  some 
one  else  could  do  his  work  the  next  day,  and  he 
could  take  it  for  rest.  The  physician  said  he  would 
stay  there  all  night  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency 
at  a  moment’s  notice,  gave  final  directions,  and 
about  eleven  o’clock  all  retired  for  the  night.  The 
watcher  took  his  place  on  the  floor  beside  the  little 
bed,  resting  on  his  knees,  and  took  the  little  wrist 
in  his  hand  where  he  held  it  all  night.  It  took  but 
a  moment  to  get  the  feeble  pulse  and  catch  its  beat, 
and  mark  its  frequency  and  strength.  When  the 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus 


145 


pulse  showed  the  least  sign  of  weakness  he  gave  some 
stimulating  drops,  as  ordered  by  the  physician,  and 
strength  immediately  returned.  Again  after  fifteen 
or  twenty  minutes  signs  of  failure  reappeared,  and 
the  stimulus  was  repeated.  This  condition  continued 
with  frequent  failing  and  restoration  of  the  pulse 
all  night,  and  not  once  did  the  strength  fail  to  re¬ 
turn  at  the  time  the  prepared  drops  were  given. 
Thus  he  knelt  and  watched  the  ebb  and  flow  of  life 
as  the  flame  leaped  and  fluttered,  almost  went  out, 
and  then  rekindled  the  smoldering  wick.  At  seven 
o’clock  the  physician  came  in  and  examined  the 
patient,  and  said  he  could  at  least  say  that  the  child 
had  not  lost  any  during  the  night.  He  would  take 
charge  of  him  for  a  time  himself,  and  let  the 
watcher  go  to  his  breakfast  and  take  some  exercise 
in  the  open  air.  This  I  did,  and  returned  at  eight 
o’clock  to  see  the  child  caught  up  and  breathing  his 
last  in  his  father’s  arms.  That  watcher  has  never 
had  a  doubt  that  the  child’s  life  was  at  his  finger 
tips  during  all  those  watchful  hours,  and  that  its 
power  to  reveal  itself  waxed  and  waned  under  the 
effects  of  the  medicine  given.  There  is  but  too  much 
evidence  that  the  body  is  sometimes  laid  in  the  grave 
after  life  has  ceased  to  reveal  itself  for  days,  and 
yet  the  effect  of  the  soil  or  some  other  cause  has 
restored  the  physical  conditions  necessary  to  give 
the  body  back  again  to  the  dominion  of  life. 

There  is  another  fact  that  may  be  worth  con¬ 
sidering  here.  What  do  we  mean  when  we  say  a 
man  has  struggled  bravely  for  his  life?  It  is  that 
he  has  kept  up  hope  and  courage,  and  that  his  very 


146  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


desire  to  live  has  prolonged  his  life.  Can  we  not 
imagine  that  the  physical  condition  is  often  such  that 
life  would  be  prolonged  if  one  cherished  this  desire 
to  live.  When  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  returned  to 
its  body  in  the  tomb,  the  body  did  not  come  back 
to  life  but  life  came  back  to  the  body,  .and.  it  needed 
only  a  preparation  of  the  body  to  receive  it  and  the 
old  power  of  control  would  be  restored.  In  how 
many  ways  this  preparation  might  be  made  we  do 
not  know;  we  cannot  affirm  anything  as  even  prob¬ 
able.  But  even  here  something  of  deep  interest  may 
be  said,  based  on  a  circumstance  emphasized  by  the 
Psalmist  and  by  both  Mark  and  John,,  though  passed 
over  by  commentators  as  of  no  significance  except 
as  showing  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy.  A  bone  of 
him  shall  not  be  broken. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  best  medical  review  of  the 
history  of  the  crucifixion  has  led  to  the  conviction 
that  the  physical  cause  of  the  death  of  Christ  was 
a  broken  heart.  But  the  whole  church  has  been 
most  profoundly  convinced  from  the  beginning  that 
his  life  did  not  end  in  disappointment  and  despon¬ 
dency,  but  in  a  most  triumphant  death.  A  broken 
heart  in  his  case  can  mean  only  this,  that  he  knew 
his  mission  had  been  completely  fulfilled,  and  there 
was  no  further  reason  why  he  should  wish  to  pro¬ 
long  his  life.  Let  us  now  call  to  mind  that  when 
the  scriptures  had  been  finally  fulfilled  he  said, 
“It  is  finished;  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend 
my  spirit,”  and  breathed  out  his  life.  And  when 
the  soldiers  came  to  break  his  legs  and  hasten  death, 
they  unexpectedly  found  him  dead,  astonishing  to 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus 


147 


all,  insomuch  that  Pilate  called  the  centurion  to  con¬ 
firm  the  report,  and  greatly  wondered.  One  cannot 
read  this  story  without  the  feeling  that,  humanly 
speaking,  if  Jesus  had  desired  it  he  might  have  con¬ 
tinued  life,  as  other  crucified  ones  are  said  to  have 
done,  for  days,  perhaps.  He  had  been  apparently 
in  perfect  health,  and  he  was  in  the  full  vigor  of 
manhood,  and  his  physical  condition  seems  to  have 
been  of  the  best.  It  seems  almost  necessary  to  sup¬ 
pose  that  his  body  was  in  a  condition  to  retain  life 
for  a  long  time  when  the  spirit  went  to  the  Father, 
and  that  there  is  profound  meaning  in  the  declaration 
of  Jesus  concerning  his  life,  “I  have  power  to  lay 
it  down.”  It  is  not  a  mere  freak  of  the  imagination 
to  suppose  that  if  this  bodily  condition  was  con¬ 
tinued  in  any  way  till  the  third  day,  or  restored  at 
that  time  by  any  means  such  as  may  be  easily  sup¬ 
posed  possible  considering  other  cases,  the  spirit, 
when  it  returned,  found  a  body  ready  for  use  and 
assumed  its  own  proper  functions  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  laws  of  bodily  organization. 

These  suppositions  are  not  made  to  suggest  a  claim 
that  the  resurrection  has  found  its  real  or  even  its 
probable  explanation,  but  it  does  show  that  there  are 
ways  in  which  the  resurrection  may  have  taken  place, 
well  within  the  domain  of  earthly  laws,  if  it  were  the 
will  of  the  spirit  to  take  up  again  its  bodily  abode. 

In  view  of  these  possibilities  the  fact  of  the  resur¬ 
rection,  like  the  fact  of  the  incarnation,  is  not  a 
miracle  at  which  we  should  stumble,  but  an  event 
to  challenge  wonder  that  when  the  Son  of  God  had 
condescended  to  take  the  form  of  man,  and  had 


1 48  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


been  ill-treated  and  rejected  and  crucified  with 
superfluous  marks  of  ignominy,  he  should  be  will¬ 
ing  again  to  take  up  the  dishonored  and  despised 
remains.  But  while  he  is  at  the  head  of  a  new  order 
of  beings,  it  is  still  the  order  of  nature  and  in  his 
treatment  of  nature  he  works  in  harmony  with  its 
laws,  and  he  uses  earth  still  as  the  support  of  his 
cause  and  the  source  of  supplies  for  the  people  of  his 
kingdom.  It  is  the  supernatural  uniting  with  the 
natural  and  becoming  a  larger  nature. 


CHAPTER  XII 


The  View  of  Nature  Which  Places  Jesus  at 
the  Center  of  the  Field  Most  Consistent 

rp  HERE  has  been  no  attempt  in  the  preceding 
pages  to  obscure  the  fact  that  they  have  been 
written  from  the  point  of  view  of  one  who  looks 
upon  the  history  of  this  earth  as  the  evolution  of  a 
plan  rather  than  of  a  force.  There  are  combinations 
of  forces  to  realize  a  plan,  and  conditions  must  exist 
to  develop  a  force,  but  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
how  either  a  force  or  an  atom  can  evolve  in  any  other 
sense  than  that  it  manifests  itself.  An  absolute 
monism  of  force  or  of  matter  would  seem  to  forbid 
evolution.  But  a  plan  of  necessity  unfolds  itself. 
Unless  there  is  variety  the  only  change  we  can  con¬ 
ceive  is  in  quantity,  not  in  kind.  If  variety  comes  out 
in  results  there  must  be  variety  in  the  cause.  If 
we  think  of  the  cause  as  one,  but  as  combining  all 
causes  in  harmony,  with  the  power  of  self-limitation 
at  will,  there  is  nothing  beyond  for  which  to  seek. 
Every  judgment  resolves  itself  at  last  into  an  an¬ 
alytical  judgment,  and  every  question  that  can  be 
asked  as  to  cause  and  effect  is  fully  answered  by  the 
analysis  of  the  one  cause.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
child’s  question,  “Who  made  God?”  The  answer 
is  not  so  difficult  as  it  has  generally  seemed,  though 
the  child  might  puzzle  over  it  before  it  became  per¬ 
fectly  clear.  But  it  seems  a  simple  and  perfectly 
clear  and  logical  answer  to  say  that  God  is  a  con- 

149 


150  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


tinuous  being  without  change,  the  God  the  child 
asks  about,  that  is  the  God  of  today’s  thought,  is  the 
result  of  the  God  of  yesterday  without  change,  and 
the  God  of  yesterday  was  the  result  of  the  God  of 
the  day  before  without  change,  and  so  on  without 
limit.  The  answer  introduces  into  the  idea  of  God 
a  time  element,  to  accommodate  the  finite  under¬ 
standing,  but  this  does  not  vitiate  the  answer  so  far 
as  this  question  is  concerned ;  in  fact  it  is  implied  in 
the  question  itself.  If  we  were  asking  about  his 
omniscience  we  might  need  to  eliminate  the  time 
element,  but  it  does  not  seem  necessary  in  answer¬ 
ing  the  child  and  it  is  not  possible  to  do  it  if  we 
would  speak  of  his  understanding.  We  may  ask  if 
there  is  such  a  first  cause,  but  if  we  accept  an  answer 
in  the  affirmative — and  it  is  so  necessary  to  do  this 
that  there  are  very  few  people  of  any  age  of  the 
world  who  have  doubted  it — we  have  reached  a 
definite  and  positive  limit  for  all  questions  of  causa¬ 
tion. 

If,  however,  we  stop  with  separate  causes  work¬ 
ing  together,  as  Davidson  does  even  in  postulating 
substantial  feelings  and  desires,  the  mind  demands  a 
unity  of  causation  beyond  them.  So  far  as  satisfy¬ 
ing  the  mind  is  concerned  we  might  as  well  stop  at 
any  other  link  in  the  chain  of  causation  as  at  David¬ 
son’s  double  link  that  hangs  upon  nothing,  while  it 
is  supposed  to  support  the  universe.  But  the  mind 
can  no  more  be  satisfied  to  stop  short  of  an  adequate 
first  cause  than  the  scientific  explorer  can  look  upon 
fossils  embedded  in  rock  on  the  top  of  a  mountain 
without  asking  what  conditions  must  have  existed 


Jesus  at  the  Center  of  the  Field 


151 


to  make  such  a  result  possible. 

If  we  go  back  to  a  first  cause,  such  as  above  de¬ 
scribed,  we  can  adequately  account  for  all  results 
that  are  not  contradictory  one  to  another.  If  now 
we  will  eliminate  the  element  of  time  from  our  first 
cause,  as  Plutarch  does  in  a  passage  of  De  Sera  Nu- 
minis  Vindicta ,  we  shall  find  in  him  the  efficient 
cause  of  later  events  the  same  as  of  the  earlier;  for 
he  is  the  real  cause,  and  we  would  see  much  of  our 
discussion  resolving  itself  into  a  dispute  about  the 
human  use  of  words  to  describe  divine  events  in  terms 
whose  meanings  have  been  simply  established  by 
human  conventionality.  With  this  conception  of 
God  it  is  as  easy  to  think  of  him  as  revealing  himself 
and  manifesting  his  power  successively  in  time  to 
meet  the  necessities  of  finite  beings,  as  to  suppose  a 
set  of  forces  established  and  left  to  develop  them¬ 
selves. 

When  we  stop  and  think  of  it  rationally,  it  seems 
one  of  the  strangest  things  that  have  ever  appeared  in 
the  development  of  belief,  that  any  one  should  claim, 
or  care  to  claim,  that  God  does  not  concern  himself 
with  his  creation,  or  that  at  any  rate  he  does  not 
manifest  a  care  for  it.  An  earthly  prince  or  poten¬ 
tate,  even  in  visiting  a  foreign  land,  leaves  some 
token  with  both  high  and  low  to  mark  his  visit  as 
having  been  made.  But,  speaking  in  terms  of  human 
conception,  the  Ruler  of  the  universe  is  an  absentee 
ruler  who  either  has  not  visited  this  part  of  his 
kingdom  in  all  the  eons  since  creation,  or  coming,  has 
done  nothing  and  left  nothing  to  mark  his  coming. 
If  some  one  claims  that  he  has  been  here  and  worked 


152  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


in  ways  that  may  be  pointed  out,  the  facts  are  denied. 
If  some  one  reads  a  providence  in  directing  the  affairs 
of  men,  it  is  credited  to  chance.  If  some  one  testi¬ 
fies  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  his 
soul,  it  is  called  an  illusion.  If  there  is  a  Creator 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  might  have  been  working 
till  today,  but  it  may  be  fittingly  asked,  “By  what 
means  could  He  reveal  his  presence  and  his  will?” 
We  have  piped  unto  you  and  ye  have  not  danced. 
We  have  mourned  unto  you  and  ye  have  not  lament¬ 
ed,  say  his  witnesses.  The  Creator  has  bound  to¬ 
gether  all  the  agents  at  work  in  his  kingdom  with  a 
chain  of  cause  and  effect,  and  securely  locked  every 
link,  and  thrown  away  the  key.  Such  is  the  logic 
of  those  who  will  not  recognize  the  hand  of  God  in 
nature. 

The  effort  has  been  made  in  these  pages  to  show 
the  weakness  of  the  attempt  to  banish  the  Creator 
from  his  universe,  the  Ruler  from  his  kingdom,  the 
Judge  from  his  court,  and  to  show  the  consistency  of 
th$  supernatural  events  claimed  with  the  order  of 
nature.  In  the  first  place  it  was  shown  that  the 
supernatural  birth  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  which 
for  us  are  the  crucial  miracles  of  revelation,  belong 
to  a  category  of  facts  or  claims  which  it  is  now  im¬ 
possible  to  disprove.  It  was  next  shown  that  Hume’s 
argument  from  uniformity  of  experience,  which  is  the 
root  of  all  merely  physical  as  well  as  metaphysical 
arguments  against  the  supernatural,  has  no  force  out¬ 
side  of  a  purely  materialistic  conception  of  thought 
and  consciousness,  and  that  this  destroys  the  chain 
of  cause  and  effect;  for  to  the  senses  every  link  is  a 


Jesus  at  the  Center  of  the  Field 


153 


separate  link,  and  the  hidden  links  between  any  two 
which  we  see  may  be  of  any  number  and  of  any  kind. 

To  make  a  parade  of  law,  which  is  purely  ideal, 
and  bring  it  into  this  argument,  admits  into  it  a 
fact,  indeed — for  the  idea  is  a  fact — but  it  is  a  fact 
which  with  reference  to  physical  nature  is  itself 
supernatural,  and  with  a  free  will  may  easily  inter¬ 
fere  with  any  expectations  based  on  uniformity  of 
experience  at  any  time.  We  may  add  to  this  fact 
of  an  ideal  world,  or  a  nature  of  ideas,  the  fact  that 
there  are  few  cases  where  experience  is  more  uni¬ 
form  than  this,  that  the  ideal  element  in  man,  al¬ 
though  dependent  on  the  body  for  development,  an¬ 
ticipates  a  higher  realm  of  activity,  and  seems  quite  as 
much  allied  to  a  spiritual  as  to  a  physical  existence. 
Its  natural  goal  seems  to  be  a  spiritual  life  above 
all  that  is  commonly  known  as  nature. 

In  the  third  place  it  was  shown  that  the  claim  that 
our  living  under  a  reign  of  law  places  us  beyond  rea¬ 
sonable  expectation  of  any  interference  of  the  law¬ 
giver,  is  utterly  futile,  because  there  are  realms  of 
law  in  nature  rather  than  a  realm,  and  these  realms 
so  overlap  that  we  continually  find  lower  laws  giv¬ 
ing  way  to  higher  ones.  At  the  most  a  law  is  but 
the  human  interpretation  of  the  Creator’s  will,  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  admit  him  to 
his  own  to  reveal  himself  to  us  in  higher  terms  in 
those  matters  in  which  his  revelation  has  not  been 
made  clear  by  the  laws  of  the  lower  realm. 

In  the  fourth  place  it  was  shown  that  Christian 
consciousness  in  respect  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the 
duties  of  life  and  the  hope  of  immortality,  depend  on 


154  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


our  belief  with  respect  to  the  birth  and  resurrection  of 
Christ. 

In  the  fifth  place  it  was  shown  that  the  Creator  has 
revealed  himself  successively  in  the  larger  nature  that 
includes  the  highest  development  of  man.  There  is 
evidence  of  great  breaks  in  the  serial  development  of 
nature,  sometimes  by  vast  accumulations  of  power,  as 
in  volcanic  eruptions  and  earthquakes,  and  sometimes 
by  the  introduction  of  a  power  that  seems  creative. 
There  is,  of  course,  no  possibility  of  arranging  all 
events  in  a  single  series;  and  when  we  try  to  ar¬ 
range  them  in  many  series  that  will  lead  back  to  a 
common  beginning,  we  must  find  a  cause  adequate  to 
all  the  results.  In  the  human  conception  of  time  and 
succession,  as  we  trace  back  for  its  beginning  any  series, 
like  the  series  of  facts  that  make  up  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  we  might  stop  at  any  point  of  the  inquiry, 
and  say  that  the  series  began  there  with  its  maker. 
In  a  true  sense  we  should  be  true  to  the  facts  because 
we  must  consider  every  series  of  events  as  continually 
dependent  on  the  first  great  Cause  who  knows  no  lim¬ 
itation  of  time  or  succession  in  himself.  The  ques¬ 
tion  we  should  strive  to  answer  is  whether,  in  view 
of  our  human  conception  of  time  and  causation  we 
have  traced  our  series  of  events  through  second  causes 
back  as  far  as  facts  will  warrant.  When  we  have 
reached  the  limit  of  possible,  or  practicable  inquiry, 
there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  say  of  the  re¬ 
sult,  “It  is  the  work  of  God,  accomplished  by  the  di¬ 
rect  exercise  of  creative  power,  by  the  use  of  other 
supernatural  means,  or  by  some  means  beyond  our 
knowledge  which  we  would  call  natural  if  we  knew 


Jesus  at  the  Center  of  the  Field 


155 


what  it  was.”  When  we  consider  the  whole  universe 
there  is  no  good  reason  why  we  should  not  be  equally 
ready  to  accept  any  one  of  the  alternatives  that  seemed 
most  probable.  One  circumstance  aloneshould prepare 
us  for  the  first  alternative,  if  it  seemed  most  reason¬ 
able,  and  that  is  that  we  see  a  world  of  ideas  exhib¬ 
ited  everywhere  around  us,  in  plans  which  we  can  but 
trace  to  a  creator,  unless  we  are  prepared  to  throw 
everything  into  the  urn  and  leave  it  all  to  chance. 
There  seems  to  be  no  more  objection  to  supposing 
that  a  force  capable  of  developing  into  a  tree  was  cre¬ 
ated,  so  to  speak,  in  the  beginning,  and  allowed  to 
slumber  till  the  earth  was  fitted  for  it,  than  that 
when  preparations  were  fully  made  the  germs  of  veg¬ 
etable  life  were  then  brought  into  existence  in  earthly 
forms.  It  is  a  question  of  fact,  or  rather  in  differ¬ 
ent  senses  both  suppositions  are  true.  The  power  ex¬ 
isted  in  the  beginning,  and  the  germ  existed  in  the 
idea  of  the  Creator,  and  the  thing  itself  did  not  ex¬ 
ist  in  time  till  the  earth  was  ready  for  it,  and  it  ap¬ 
peared.  But  the  coming  of  Christ  to  earth  precludes 
the  idea  of  a  slumbering  power  for  him  and  presup¬ 
poses  a  previous  real  existence.  And  there  seems  a 
naturalness  also  in  the  supposition  that  other  begin¬ 
nings  in  the  order  of  time  be  assigned  to  a  power 
directly  manifesting  itself  from  above. 

In  the  sixth  place  there  have  been  changes  on  the 
earth  that  seem  to  scientific  thought  to  make  it  rea¬ 
sonable  to  separate  the  classes  of  existence  into  king-* 
doms.  There  has  undoubtedly  been  an  evolution  of 
plan  or  power,  and  the  evolution  has  been  one  of 
progress  upward.  The  laws  of  the  different  king- 


156  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


doms  are  partly  the  same  and  partly  peculiar  to  the 
different  realms.  The  most  universal  of  the  laws 
we  have  been  able  to  trace,  or  the  one  with  the 
greatest  diversity  of  application,  is  the  fitness  of  earth 
through  various  evolutions  to  nourish  and  sustain  all 
the  orders  of  being  that  have  been  successively  cast 
upon  her  bosom.  Each  successive  stage  of  develop¬ 
ment,  even  to  the  birth  and  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ,  has  recognized  the  laws  of  preceding  nature, 
using  the  stored  up  powers  for  higher  ends  than  earth 
had  known  before. 

In  general  it  is  natural  to  trace  creation  back  to  a 
time  when  we  may  suppose  nature  in  its  lowest  form 
began  to  be.  We  cannot  think  of  it  as  eternal,  and  it 
is  difficult  to  believe  that  with  its  progressiveness  and 
limitations  it  was  without  beginning.  In  the  place 
of  nature  there  was  nothing.  In  a  sense  we  may  say 
all  else,  all  that  was  was  supernatural.  .  It  was  above 
the  first  nature  that  appeared.  To  avoid  saying  that 
nature  was  made  out  of  nothing  or  that  it  was  made 
out  of  the  Creator  himself,  let  us  say  it  was  the 
supernatural  becoming  nature. 

By  this  supernatural  we  mean  something  that  was 
not  God  but  which  depended  on  him.  Perhaps  we 
might  think  of  the  Creator’s  thought, — we  cannot 
tell  what  it  was,  but  it  helps  in  thinking  to  make  a 
definite  representation  even  if  but  a  supposition, — I 
say  we  might  think  of  the  Creator’s  thought,  idea  or 
plan  as  limited  in  time  and  place,  and  as  assuming  cer¬ 
tain  aspects  which  we  call  forces  of  nature,  so  that 
literally,  the  heavens  were  of  old  by  the  word  of 
God,  the  essential  expression  of  his  thought.  When 


Jesus  at  the  Center  of  the  Field 


157 


God  said  Light  be,  he  had  seen  the  darkness  that 
brooded  over  all  the  nature  that  then  was,  and  his 
thought  took  the  form  of  trembling  ether,'  which 
bears  to  the  boundaries  of  space  and  makes  manifest 
the  minutest  pulsations  of  matter,  and  this  is  light. 
However  we  may  think  of  it,  if  we  think  of  nature 
as  beginning  to  be,  it  is  most  consistent  to  say  it  is 
the  supernatural  becoming  what  we  call  nature. 
And  thus  far  in  our  development  it  is  most  reason¬ 
able  to  think  of  two  stages,  the  second  added  to  the 
first.  There  was  first  the  creation  of  the  coarser 
matter,  and  then  of  light.  How  many  more  origins 
there  may  have  been  we  cannot  tell,  but  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  we  can  avoid  assuming  a  supernatural  ori¬ 
gin,  as  has  been  suggested  before,  for  vegetable  life, 
for  animal  life,  and  for  man.  That  there  should  be 
many  similarities  in  the  development  and  manifes¬ 
tation  of  these  different  forms  we  might  expect,  be¬ 
cause  in  each  case  there  is  a  higher  power  using  the 
lower  forms  according  to  the  laws  of  the  realm  into 
which  it  has  come.  In  each  case  what  has  before 
been  recognized  as  nature  is  extended  to  include 
something  new  that  appears  to  have  come  from  a 
higher  source.  The  coming  of  a  spiritual  life  into 
this  nature  to  make  it  worth  while  for  creation  to  be 
is  in  complete  harmony  with  the  whole  order  of  pro¬ 
gressive  nature,  and  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God 
crowns  the  work  as  supreme. 

The  effort  has  been  to  show  how  evolution  has 
been  a  struggle  to  reach  a  higher  plain,  and  when  the 
struggle  seemed  to  have  reached  its  limit,  this  limit 
was  but  a  preparation  for  a  higher  power  to  take  po*. 


158  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


session  and  carry  on  the  process  through  another  and 
a  higher  stage,  until  a  spiritual  life  and  a  good  hope 
of  immortality  have  been  attained.  It  has  not  been 
simply  a  struggle  to  maintain  a  footing  gained,  but  a 
struggle  to  reach  a  higher  plane.  We  have  been 
mounting  the  ladder  on  which  we  climb  by  reaching 
to  the  rungs  above  us. 

A  recent  writer,  speaking  of  the  Greek  tragedians 
says?  “It  was  a  merit,  surely,  that  they  were  not  con¬ 
tent — even  as  a  Shakespeare  was  so  well  content  to 
do — to  depict  human  life  or  society  without  its  due 
setting  in  the  cosmos.” 

God — Heaven — Earth.  This  is  the  triple  theme 
of  the  epic  of  time,  and  it  will  continue  to  be  the 
theme  till  time  shall  be  no  longer.  Let  us  put  it  on 
canvas,  if  we  can,  and  hold  it  before  our  eyes  for 
contemplation.  God,  unseen,  but  spreading  a  soft 
radiance  everywhere,  like  morning  glow  before  the 
sun  is  up ;  His  attributes  revealed  in  creation,  the 
Heaven  and  the  Earth;  His  infinite  power  shown  in 
giving  being  and  orderly  motions  to  the  elements  of 
matter  and  to  the  bodies  in  the  firmament;  His  in¬ 
finite  knowledge  shown  in  guarding  from  the  small¬ 
est  loss  every  element  of  force  and  every  atom  of 
created  matter;  His  infinite  wisdom  shown  in  the 
combinations  and  control  of  the  elements  set  to  do 
his  will;  His  majesty  displayed  in  the  stately  progress 
of  His  works — He  spoke  and  they  became,  He  com¬ 
manded  and  they  stood  fast  in  place  and  in  all  their 
courses,  and  angels  and  archangels  waited  upon  His 
word ;  His  holiness  revealed  in  the  creation  and 
government  of  moral  beings;  His  justice,  goodness, 


Jesus  at  the  Center  of  the  Field 


159 


truth  and  other  attributes  voiced  by  voiceless  worlds 
in  all  the  realms  of  space;  His  love  crowning  His 
crowning  gift  to  man.  This,  is  the  back-ground. — 
In  the  foreground  stands  the  Earth.  It  is  at  the 
focus  of  all  the  divine  rays  that  shine  in  the  at¬ 
tributes  of  Jehovah.  It  is  the  center  of  all  interest. 
All  else  is  known  only  as  it  bears  upon  the  destiny 
of  Earth,  the  Earth  only  as  it  answers  back  to 
Heaven.  Its  history,  directly  or  by  implication,  is 
the  sum  and  substance  of  all  that  is  revealed  of  the 
Creator’s  plan  and  purpose. — At  first  a  nebulous 
mass  of  particles  flying  hither  and  thither,  as  if  try¬ 
ing  to  find  themselves  and  failing  in  the  attempt,  a 
chaos. — The  scene  changes.  The  Earth  a  fiery  ball 
hurtling  through  space  as  if  in  a  race  against  time. — 
Again,  the  Earth  of  land  and  water.  Wind,  storm 
and  clouds,  volcanoes,  earthquakes  and  great  com¬ 
motions  on  sea  and  shore.  It  may  be  wonderful,  but 
what  is  there  in  all  this  to  make  the  Earth  attractive, 
worthy  to  be  the  very  center  of  a  glorious  picture. 
Nothing  but  the  display  of  almighty  power,  rather 
to  be  dreaded  than  sought  after. — The  scene  shifts 
again.  The  Earth  still  occupies  the  center  of  the 
foreground.  A  tree  rises  from  its  surface,  buds  and 
puts  forth  leaves,  flowers,  fruit  and  seed ;  dies  and 
goes  back  to  Earth.  The  Earth  is  a  forest  of  trees 
and  shrubs,  a  garden  of  flowers  and  fruits,  delicately 
formed  and  answering  back  somewhat  to  the  wisdom 
of  the  Creator;  but  good,  for  what  in  the  great 
universe  of  which  they  are  the  most  attractive  fea¬ 
ture  of  the  central  figure?  They  fall  to  the  ground, 
crumble  and  return  to  dust. — Again,  the  beast  of  the 


160  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


field  walks  on  the  Earth,  answering  to  a  higher 
wisdom  and  knowledge.  But  the  higher  attributes 
of  the  Creator,  His  justice,  holiness  and  love,  find 
no  answering  look  of  recognition. — Behold  again. 
Man  appears.  God’s  holiness  and  love  revealed  at 
last!  But  by  what  a  contrast!  What  a  travesty 
of  truth  and  justice!  Why  should  the  Earth  be 
allowed  longer  to  hold  the  focal  point  of  interest  and 
influence  at  the  center  of  creation  ?  The  violence  of 
Earth  cannot  be  said  to  rise  even  to  the  pitch  of 
the  tragic  in  the  force  of  its  hate  and  the  fury  of 
its  fierce  endeavor,  except  as  a  foil  to  give  a  hint  of 
what  might  have  been.  Otherwise  it  is  simply  a 
display  of  impotence  and  folly.  There  is  surely  noth¬ 
ing  here  worthy  of  Earth’s  proud  position  on  the 
canvas. — But  look  again.  There  comes  the  Son  of 
God  in  the  form  of  man,  and  takes  a  place  on  this 
same  Earth  and  in  the  very  center  of  the  picture.  He 
came  to  redeem  the  world  to  himself,  and  bring  life 
and  immortality  to  light.  Hear  the  angels  singing 
at  his  birth.  Even  the  guilty  race  have  closed  the 
doors  of  Janus. 

“No  war,  or  battle’s  sound 

Was  heard  the  world  around.” 

Watch  the  conflict  and  see  him  baffle  Satan  in  the 
wilderness. — Hear  his  gracious  and  all-penetrating 
voice  from  the  slope  above  the  sea.  How  David, 
Paul  and  John  and  others  use  the  terms  of  emula¬ 
tion,  of  physical  conflict,  and  of  dread  war,  to  em¬ 
phasize  and  make  clear  their  conception  of  the  Chris- 


Jesus  at  the  Center  of  the  Field 


161 


tian’s  “race,”  “prize,”  “ 


<< 


fightings,”  “warfare,”  "vic¬ 
tory.”  But  not  one  syllable  of  all  this  comes  from 
his  lips,  even  in  figure  of  speech,  as  he  speaks  to  the 
world  from  the  mountain  and  from  the  plain,  from 
Judah’s  fertile  fields  and  from  the  northern  lake, 
from  the  wayside  well  and  from  the  synagogue  and 
temple,  from  Galilean  hills  and  Calvary’s  sacred 
mount.  Man,  and  yet  how  different  from  man ! 
His  glance  penetrates  to  the  heart  of  things,  and  he 
needs  no  help  from  rhetoric  to  express  the  fulness  of 
the  truth.  His  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  and  his 
servants  do  not  fight. — Behold  him  transfigured  on 
the  holy  mount. — His  mercy,  grace  and  authority 
do  not  fall  below  his  wisdom.  See  the  displays  of 
his  power  in  the  control  of  nature.  In  his  presence 
the  blind  see,  the  deaf  hear,  and  the  dead  are  raised. 
— He  dies,  obedient  to  law,  but  under  a  higher  law 
he  bursts  the  bands  of  death,  rises  from  the  tomb 
and  ascends  up  on  high  as  advocate  for  his  redeemed 
ones  still  on  Earth,  and  others  yet  to  be.  Does  it 
not  now  seem  worth  while  to  give  to  Earth  that 
has  endured  the  throes  of  all  the  myriads  of  years 
that  have  passed  seconding  the  evolution  of  the  great 
plan  of  the  Creator,  the  exalted  place  to  which  she 
was  destined  in  the  beginning,  when  God  created  the 
Heaven  and  the  Earth.  But  this  can  only  be  looked 
upon  as  commensurate  with  the  position  earth  and 
man  sustain  in  the  physical  universe  and  in  greatness 
of  intellect,  if  Jesus  Christ  was  divinely  born  and 
divinely  raised  from  the  dead ;  if  he  be  really  the 
Son  of  God.  Otherwise  we  must  turn  from  this 
contemplation  of  the  earth  and  make  a  different 


1 62  The  Supernatural  Revealed  by  Nature 


picture.  Earth  must  be  relegated  to  some  dark 
corner  in  the  labyrinth  of  unexplored  and  perplexed 
paths  of  a  boundless  and  indefinable  nature  the  pur¬ 
pose  and  end  of  which  evade  our  dreams. 

The  question  we  ask  in  closing  is  not  which  pic¬ 
ture  is  most  pleasing  to  contemplate,  but  which  most 
exactly  represents  the  nature  that  we  know,  and 
which  sounds  the  deepest  note  of  harmony. 


Princeton 


leologica 


Seminary  Libraries 


012  01197  0383 


